Category: Politics of Well-Being

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Mindfulness Politics of Well-Being Social Connection The Spirit

It’s all connected

It’s been a while since I’ve written. The pandemic was in its infancy the last time I posted. Since then the universal energy has been moving fast. It can be difficult to keep up with the natural forces sometimes.

You don’t need me to lecture about the events of the last few weeks. What I will tell you is that the city in which I live was at the epicenter of a police killing of yet another black man. This happened several miles from my home. Then, as grieving people protested, a reactionary arson and rioting spree commenced in the business corridor less than a mile from my home. And to add to the story, we were all living amidst an historic pandemic with many of us living in a leader-less country. Throughout the activity, the air became hotter and we were living with a level of stifling heat and humidity that was matched only by the permeating sadness. It felt hopeless.

What was once one of my favorite movies was becoming my reality—again.

About a week ago I awoke for the first time since in several weeks, feeling rested. I had a real night’s sleep. Outside the air was wet, the helicopters were gone, the prairie was in bloom, the birds were singing like crazy. The bike was calling me. What a privilege—to be able to escape the mayhem!

Back to the source

Because of the pandemic and my age, I opted to stay away from the centers of activity. I felt that I’d be serving the greatest public good by staying home. To stay grounded and to maintain perspective, I spent a lot of time digging in the soil and watching the prairie, perennial, vegetable, flower, and garlic gardens evolving (another privilege these days, I might add). If there was ever a time and place in my life to see how everything is connected, this was it.

This video from the California Native Plant society is the best presentation I’ve found of how it’s all connected. Unfortunately, the only link I could locate is via Facebook, I couldn’t find this in YouTube. But clicking on the image will take you to the video in Facebook.

I planted my garlic last fall and topped it with lots and lots of straw and dried leaves (mulch) to help it survive the fierce Minnesota winter. This year the extra mulch I provided made a world of difference in the crop. The garlic looks healthier and happier than I’ve ever seen it at this time of year. With proper care, I expect the garlic harvest to be my best ever.

Mindful mulching allowed the garlic to thrive.

The potatoes at the community garden showed signs of potato bugs so we sprayed them with soap and water and it looks like we’ll have a good harvest. I planted seeds for a variety of greens but only the dino-kale germinated properly. I separated the kale and replanted the plugs, dug up that area of the garden, and planted summer squash starter plants given to me by a friend.

We’re even connected to the humble potato!

The beloved prairie has been in bloom, and is generally self-sustaining, as is the way with prairies. Each plant gives way to another. Getting this bed to this point about six years ago required completely re-configuring the strip along the garage. What was existing there, invasive weeds, had to go. I puzzled over organic and sustainable ways to start from scratch. It was difficult, but in the end it worked and self-sustaining beauty evolved.

Thanks to my great neighbors I have a new boulder. I’ve considered moving it to the other alley garden (below) for visual appeal but now I’m sort of liking it in the prairie. Any opinions?

My newest bed, back in the shade off of the alley, is finally beginning to thrive. I weed some, putter around a lot, investigate, and wonder. So far the hosta, coreopsis, irises, and sedum seem happy. It was a lot of work getting that garden started: scoping out the patch of earth and its relationship to the sun, pruning the adjacent shrubs, laying cardboard and newspapers (compliments of many friends) and topping them with rocks to kill the weeds, locating plants (again compliments of many friends), planting, hauling, and laying mulch (again, compliments of friends). And then, agonizing over whether the garden would “take”. It was ugly at first but it’s two years in and it appears that the hard work up front has allowed the garden to grow and begin to thrive. With a little maintenance and care, I expect the garden will contribute to our community.

With time this garden will find it’s place in the community. Should I move the boulder here?

A time to…

As I look at our human garden, I wonder if we aren’t starting the reestablishment process. It might be time to look at our human institutions and create the conditions for new systems. Maybe we need to completely eliminate some systems, and plant new ones that are more adapted to our communities.

We might consider institutions that thrive and are nurtured and sustained by community input. Instead of cutting people off when they don’t immediately flower, what might happen if we applied the same compassion to other people that we apply to our own children and grandchildren? For many, the world feels ugly right now, but others see the potential underneath all the unsightly mulch, cardboard, rocks, and wet newspapers.

Blooms

In the back yard an iris I planted several years ago has been a total dud—no blooms, just boring go-nowhere iris leaves. I was planning to dig it up and toss it. But on memorial day this year my dud of an iris flowered into brilliant pure white blooms. What a lovely gift!  Iris people love to name their irises. I’ve named mine the Mr. George Floyd Iris.

Kindred Spirits, June 18th

The Kindred Spirits online Zoom gathering has been a great international community connection point. The next gathering will be Thursday, June 18th from 6:30 p.m. to, at the latest, 8:00 p.m. central daylight time. It’s free and all people of loving intention are invited. This month our topic will be “Taking Responsible Action”. The gathering includes group meditation, a brief presentation, and conversation. It’s free but you must register to attend. You can register on the Healing Ground website.

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Mindfulness Politics of Well-Being The Spirit

Learning from those who came before

Today, I wept through about half of my morning meditation. Despite the fact that all-in-all I am holding up just fine during our period of separation, today I felt the suffering, deep in my heart. And it hurt.

I suspect this was triggered by my thinking about the abomination happening in the United States electoral system—this time in my home state, and current neighbor, Wisconsin. Watching people line up for blocks at my high school (Riverside in the link) in order to vote at one of five polling places in a city of 600,000 broke my heart.

Poll workers and voters caring for the universal body conducting an election while putting their health and their lives at risk at my high school gym.
People risking their lives to to vote at my high school.

Sadness

Then I thought about the suffering of the grocery workers, the health care workers, the delivery workers, the truck drivers, the sanitation workers. Then I remembered the best Certified Nursing Assistant in the world (at least my limited world after joint replacement surgery), Jane, and I wondered how she was holding up. After that I flashed on how the pandemic is, as always, dis-proportionally killing people of color—particularly African Americans. After that came, “what about Iran and Syria”, and “what about the millions wandering the planet looking for a home?”  Somewhere in there the tears started falling.

Anger

Along with sadness, I felt anger that the most vulnerable carry the burden for the most protected, privileged, and hateful in our world. As I was reciting the compassion mantra I wondered, “What’s the point of all this meditating? What difference will it make?”

Being

I, to my surprise ended up meditating for a full hour, which was considerably longer than my usual 15 morning minutes. Somehow I got lost in the meditation, my feelings, and the moment. I guess my experience explains one of the reasons I just keep on meditating—especially now. I can lose myself for those few moments and just “be”.

However, after I’ve just “been” where do I go and what do I do? Well, I’m a health coach, not God. I have no answers. But I do have thoughts and here are three of them.

How to act?

First, as I said last post, it is important for all of us to stay as physically and mentally healthy as possible. If we don’t stay healthy we will have difficulty taking any action and will harm our universal body.

Second, we (especially health and well-being professionals), need to learn to speak up. There are so many health and wellness videos and Zoom groups out there in social media land giving health tips for managing the physical body during a pandemic. It would be helpful if health and well-being professionals would speak to the all the facets of the body—especially the universal body. If we are all connected, as we claim we are, then it would behoove us to speak up when we see damage happening to that universal body. We can no longer just post pretty social media flower pictures. We must point out the damage done to us all when our fellows are forced to choose between their physical health and their political health or when we are fed junk science like it is the final truth. We must ask publicly, “What about the people of Iran, Syria, Mississippi, Alabama, and Wisconsin?”  If we are all connected, then we all matter and if we have multiple levels of existence, we must pay attention to all of those levels or risk becoming irrelevant.

A few timely words from Gil Scott Heron.

And third, we will all benefit if we offer compassion to all sentient beings including ourselves and our enemies. This doesn’t mean we have to like or approve of the behavior of these beings. But, we must recognize that we are all connected (even our enemies) and understand that we all suffer.  I can’t exactly tell you the deep reasons for how this works (I’ll leave this for the Buddha, Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Lao Tzu, Bob Marley, Richard Feynman and others who seem better able explain these things). However, I can say that by regularly offering compassion I feel better and my mind is clearer than it was before I practiced compassion. I’m better able to manage my emotions and I am better able to function in the world. And, with all that clarity, I’m better able to speak up.

A few timely words from the Bodhisattvas.
This meditation came to me from my friend Claire and was suggested by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for managing ourselves during this pandemic. It has brought me a great deal of comfort over the last few weeks

Just three ideas

Remember everybody, this pandemic stuff is new to all of us and we’re all making it up as we go along. I suggest turning to the great teachers who have shown us that by taking a few intentional steps to better serve the common good we will, at worst, not be adding to the misery, and at best, be contributing to the alleviation of suffering in our suffering world. And we need that now.

That’s what I have today. Three simple ideas: take care, speak up, be compassionate. Think about them and report back.

Kindred Spirits Online: April 23

As we slog through this pandemic, I am still planning a Kindred Spirits online Zoom gathering for this month on April 23rd from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. It’s free and all people of loving intention are invited. I haven’t settled on a topic yet but am thinking of something around our breathe. I’ll let you know when I figure it out. Our first online gathering was very enlightening and enjoyable. It was wonderful connecting with people and sharing experiences. It’s free but you must register to attend. You can register on the Healing Ground website.

Categories
Ayurveda Politics of Well-Being Research Self-care

Together in Isolation

Social Isolation-Image

It’s happened. Suddenly we’re thrust into a world where reality will prevail. A world where our human arrogance doesn’t just “not help” but actually makes things more challenging. The pandemic predicted for a long time by smart and thoughtful epidemiologists is upon us.

Yesterday my writings on this amounted an epic rant —proof that despite all my efforts at mindfulness, living in the present, finding grace, and generally trying to be a good person, I still get angry—or in some situations–really pissed-off.  You can read it (or not) for a laugh or for reassurance that, yes, nothing about this situation is easy and the anger you’re feeling right now is felt by many, many people, and we all just get pissed-off sometimes.

After said epic rant, while walking at the gym, one of my favorite songs ran on my play list—it described my state well. I had to just laugh: “Make Me Wanna Holler—throw up both my hands” (Inner City Blues). [https://youtu.be/p_PxgSQ9Vf4]

What more can we say?

Then I read an excellent analysis of the pandemic and found all my opinions validated but handled in a much more rational and comprehensive manner. I slowly I started to feel less angry. Maybe my desire to be “right” trumped (I mean this as a verb, not the person!!) my need to be angry. Or maybe getting real, truthful information, delivered without a political agenda soothed my soul. Whatever the case, I have gratitude for my change of temperament. I awoke this morning not feeling angry.

If the pandemic interests you I strongly suggest you read the article that contributed to my change in attitude.

Then again, maybe my work with Vedic and Buddhist principles of well-being helped me calm down. These principles tell me that anger is a totally natural reaction to situations of the human condition. We’re human, after all, and anger is real. However, these teachings also encourage me to not get attached to my anger. By attaching to my anger,  I get paralyzed and sink deeper and deeper into despair and fear.

Opposites don’t attract (in this case)

The tough question is: How do I manage to break my attachment to anger? The Vedic/Buddhist principles tell me that applying the opposite force reduces the affects of that force. This explains how reading thoughtful and informed views of our situation calmed me down. Woa! The circle is complete (and a little profound)! “Stupid” and “unformed” makes me angry (always has) so maybe applying “smart” and “informed” opposed the anger and I started to feel better.

This makes me think I generally need to dig deeper to figure out what forces are really making me angry. I think that if I catch the these forces before the anger becomes manifest and is running wild in my system, I’ll prevent myself from spreading toxic energy to others, not unlike the behavior of Covid 19. And that is one way I can serve the universal body and promote well-being. Whew! What a difference a little focus, attention, and awareness makes.

So, what now?

My suggestion is for all of us is to stay informed about the spread of the virus and follow the recommendations from the experts. I know the truth is often difficult to hear but it is the only antidote for lies. This set of videos from (of all people) Joe Rogan, featuring Mike Osterholm, a world renowned expert on infectious diseases from the University of Minnesota, is a great place to start becoming informed. (Go to the link and youtube will show you the other portions of the interview to watch). Let’s try to stay away from uninformed, stupid, nasty, xenophobic, and hateful energy around this virus. It only feeds hate and hate feeds anger and anger feeds fear and fear feeds pandemics like nobody’s business.

These interviews with Mike Osterholm are very informative, honest, smart, and even a little funny. In his thoughtful infectious way, Osterholm is pretty witty and very thorough and knowledgeable about his subject. There are more sections of the interview available on YouTube.

Shift in perspective

As I wrestled with my own “next steps” in the current climate, I have decided to shift my health coaching delivery from an emphasis on “in person” to an emphasis on “online” sessions. This runs counter to many of my fundamental beliefs about health coaching. I think there is no substitute for in-person interactions. However, I need to keep the HEALTH in health coaching. I, as do we all, have a fundamental responsibility to encourage our population to “socially isolate.” I wish we had a better term for this—it sounds so horrible. Any suggestions? I’m serious…if you have suggestions for a better term please comment below!  

I believe, we can turn this concept of social isolation into something good and positive in our lives. We can commit to having meaningful interaction via electronic options, send positive energy into the world, and use the time to delve deeper into our real “selves” and explore areas in our lives we have been ignoring. And, on a personal note, now I will be forced to become more comfortable with online coaching delivery. I’m mortified to think it took a pandemic to move me in this direction, but I’m just doing my best.

An experiment

To that end, I’m moving our next Kindred Spirits gathering from in-person to online. The gathering is scheduled for March 26, just as this virus will spreading exponentially in the Midwest. It would be silly (and irresponsible) to hold an in-person gathering at that time. Hosting an online event will be a new experience for me and I feel a little bit of excitement around this experiment. (I’ve produced a lot of webcasts for others but have never actually been in front of the mic. I guess it’s time—yikes!).

And, as an added bonus, this experiment will allow people from outside the immediate area and those who aren’t prepared to drive to participate. Who knows what may come about? Ultimately I hope we will be contributing to building a healthier world. Please consider attending.

In keeping with the times, the topic will be Living with Uncertainty.  As I move forward with this I’ll post details. If you receive emails from me, then you are on my email list and I’ll use this to keep you informed. If you don’t receive my emails, please sign onto my mailing list (below at the very bottom of the screen) or email me at info@healing-ground.com to receive updates.

I look forward to facing these new challenges together. I have no idea what to expect—some things are just outside of my control and Covid19 is one of those things. I encourage all of us to stay connected, informed, aware, and most importantly to resist the forces of hate. Let’s do this together as the universal body that we are!

“You may ask yourself…” Feels appropriate for the times and forces me to get up and dance.

Categories
Ayurveda Mindfulness Politics of Well-Being

Late Winter Stirring

Late winter survival

As we shift into the season of late winter I am weary of the endless icy roads and sidewalks, the cloudy days, and unpredictable temperatures. Nothing feels as it should to me. I’d prefer the moderately cold throughout the winter to the freeze/thaw patterns we’ve been experiencing of late. The sidewalks are treacherous and many roads are so beaten up as to be nearly impassable. Cross country ski trails become icy and sticky. And to add insult to injury, opportunist politicians diss my city with stupid accusations – again. This is my crabby time—but not for long.

Late winter, a season well described in the Ayurvedic tradition, is more than just a segment of the traditional year. It reflects the energetic forces we’re currently experiencing planet wide. A cold, regressive, immobile energetic front has been settling over our world. This leaves me, on one hand, in a state of despair, but on the other, in a state of hopeful anticipation—for we’re experiencing LATE winter. And this is followed by spring—rebirth, regrowth, possibility, and regeneration.

Treasure Beach Jamaica, WI
The natural cycles of the planet allow for the possibility of rebirth and regeneration.

I have been tempted to either retreat into my cocoon until things settle down (which could be awhile) or “let loose” against those who who hate (I’m not sure what form “letting loose” would take, but it wouldn’t be pretty). Instead, in the spirit of my commitment to the well-being of myself and the world, I have decided to focus on caring for myself. I try to remember that if I am not in a state of well-being, I am damaging the universal body at worst and can do little to improve the state of anything, at best. As we prepare for yearly and energetic spring, it is incumbent on all of us to take care of ourselves: our bodies, spirits, and minds so as to keep the universal body healthy as the new winds of change emerge.

In the spirit of love, compassion, and self-care I’ve put together a few ideas for surviving late winter and preparing for spring that may help us all reach the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

Develop a routine

There is ample research from both conventional western and integrative sources that affirms the health benefits of living with a broad daily routine. This includes regular (preferably earlyish—before 10 p.m.) bedtime, and early arising time (5:30 to 6 a.m.)

As early winter progresses it becomes more difficult for me to arise at 5:30 a.m. It is a stretch to crawl out of bed in the dark. I find myself engaging in sleep creep with later and later rising times. Late winter, with morning light appearing well before 7 a.m., is a great time to begin shifting our internal clocks so as to take advantage of maximum daylight. And an added benefit is that if we start paying attention to our waking time now, and begin to push it earlier, we are better able to cope with the upcoming daylight savings time fiasco and are able to transition more gracefully as we move into spring.

Lighten up the diet

After the heavy eating months of late fall and early winter when the cold moving air energy (vata) is down shifting and the cold solid earth energy (kapha) is upshifting, late winter is the time to lighten things up a bit. We no longer need to calm down the moving unpredictable air/space energy but would do well to lightly pump the breaks on the thick, slow moving earth-water energy. This is a great time to introduce more green leafy vegetables into our diets and back off of the heavy root veggies. Truth be told, I’m ready for this shift. I no longer find comfort in these early winter staples and they are starting to bore me. I find myself gazing longingly at the beautiful (albeit not local) rainbow chard and mustard greens in the vegetable aisle.

Swiss Chard presents such a beautiful colorful image, it’s hard not to crave it this time of year.

Shifting away from heavy red meat and towards poultry, fish, and light legumes will also help lighten your energy. And this is a good time to give more attention to reducing the quantity of food we eat.

Start moving

I often wonder what is going on with my perennials during late winter. I imagine the roots to be waking up in a super-drowsy state and pushing against the frozen soil as they prepare for their big moment—the spring thaw.

The native perennial garden looks bleak and moribund to the lazy eye. But the ice and snow melt indicates movement happening beneath the surface.

This is the time of year when our bodies can also use a nudge to slog through the heavy late winter environment. I’m not talking a marathon prep (unless that’s really what you want to do), but rather, like the plant roots, beginning a subtle increase in bodily movement. You might use this time to set an intention to move more. Try a goal of achieving, at minimum, the standard recommendation of 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise combined with three sessions of strength building exercise. If this is too much of a stretch, then maybe start with a goal of seventy-five minutes a week. Or, if goals bug you, set the intention to just move more than you are currently. And of course, if you are already at 150 minutes, set the goal a little higher. And then see what happens. A slight increase can trigger a lot of subtle changes in how we feel and function.  I’m already feeling considerably more mobile and notice that my skin has more color than it did a month ago. I attribute this to my increased activity—but it probably also results from the increase in green leafy vegetables.

Pay attention

I can’t help but think that my native perennials are paying attention as they wake up. If they weren’t, then they might wake up too early or too late. Somehow they know when to start stretching their roots. They seem to be very highly attuned to their environment.

So, why should we wander around oblivious to our surroundings when so much is happening? If we don’t pay attention to how we feel, what’s happening in the natural world, and what’s happening in the material world, we will become disoriented and may be functioning totally out of sync with our environment. And, our health and well being will suffer.

With so much happening in the world, and with our family activities, people fall for the false belief that paying attention to anything other than their own narrow needs will limit their usefulness in the world. My experience tells me just the opposite. By maintaining an awareness of our universe, I find I am better able to navigate my life through the stormy world in which we live. You can trust that I’ll be blogging much more about this—it is fundamental to my value and belief systems and is a core component of my health coaching practice.

This winter I’ve noticed a plethora of rabbits feasting on my blueberry bushes. They have reduced some to mere stumpy twigs. It’s disheartening, but I’m very aware that a lot can happen between now and mid-summer.

How?

It’s the HOW of paying attention that I find folks have difficulty with. To get started, I suggest a simple morning practice that I am borrowing from Pilar Gerasimo in her book The Healthy Deviant. As a prerequisite to engaging in this practice, I VERY STRONGLY suggest you remove ALL electronics from your sleep area…and yes, that includes your smart phone—in fact, especially your smart phone—remove smart-anything (except yourself and/or partner of course). If you need an alarm, buy an old-school alarm clock. “Impossible” you say? “Wrong”, I say. Period. Turn the phone off and leave it in another room at night. Your cell phone is not your friend at night. (More about my experience with this in another post, I promise).

This is an alarm clock. I suggest you buy one (but don’t set it for 10:15!).

Once you’ve weaned yourself off of your cell phone at night, this becomes a very easy exercise: Set the intention (and take the action) to do the following. Spend the first three minutes (or more) after you get out of bed doing something reflective. Whatever you do, DO NOT go to your phone or other electronic device within your first three minutes of getting out of bed. Something reflective might be looking at a candle, reading reflective passages (from a BOOK—NOT your phone!!), meditating, praying, or…I often use that time to water and spray my indoor plants (and I politely talk to them).

These guys migrated into the front porch as the temperatures fell and will make their way back outside before long. Last year the geraniums didn’t survive but I think they might make it this year.

That’s it. Set the intention and try this practice for a week and see how your days go.

Setting intentions

I’d love to hear from you about your late winter practices. What works for you and what doesn’t? Please feel free to comment below. I love discovering that people actually read my blog (it can be lonely out the in the blogiverse). In the meantime, eat less, move more, and pay attention. We all will be happier and healthier for your efforts.

Late winter is a great time to begin the practice of setting intentions. This season feels like a beginning to me and I find setting intentions comes more naturally this time of year than at the end of the solar year. This month, the Kindred Spirits group topic is Living with Intention. This is a great opportunity to focus on and clarify an idea which can greatly expand our field of  awareness and enhance our well-being. Consider joining us this Thursday for this thoughtful group.

Categories
Politics of Well-Being Social Connection The Spirit

Dr. King Holiday: It’s Personal

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day in the United States. It happens in the dead of winter when I welcome even the smallest ray of light. For me, this holiday has a great deal of meaning. It’s the one holiday I take personally. Possibly because it celebrates a man who was doing his work when I was actually alive, and possibly it’s because the lessons we learn from Dr. King are as relevant today as they were when I was a child. It’s probably both. But I know it is also because of my personal experience as a child-pawn in all Dr. King was fighting against.

Have you forgotten?

So why am I talking about Dr. King and the civil rights movement in a health and well-being blog? Have you already forgotten about the Universal Body? Oh dear. It is so easy for us to prioritize the gross (physical) body over all others and to see the universal body as just a side-line. Well, either we are all connected or we’re not. And, if we ARE connected, then the health of the universal body is equal in importance to that of the others.  And, damage to the universal touches on the gross body and the subtle body and vice versa. That’s why it’s important for all of us to take care of our physical bodies, spirits, minds, and souls—AND—why it is important for all of us to take care of our universal bodies. In short, it is difficult (impossible?) to live a happy and healthy life while ignoring the suffering of others. That is just the way it is and why I see Martin Luther King Jr. as a celebration of the Universal Body.  

My bus kids story

I grew up Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an epicenter of Midwest urban racism during the 1950s and 60s (and possibly still today). Fortunately, I was raised by parents who supported the civil rights struggle and who taught me that we all were equal. As a young child I didn’t understand prejudice or racism, but I also didn’t have ANY interactions with black people at Garden Homes Elementary School. (We did have one girl of Japanese descent in our class, one Jewish kid in the first grade, and one Native American girl in class, as I recall). Then, sometime around maybe second or third grade the “bus kids” arrived on the scene. These “bus kids” were black children who arrived mysteriously every morning at our school in school buses.

My elementary school, Garden Homes elementary school, is now (I’m happy to say) Lloyd Barbee Montessori School. Lloyd Barbee was a Milwaukee civil rights attorney who worked tirelessly on school desegregation cases. My mother was thrilled to know I went to the same high school as his daughter. I guess she thought it lent my high school some cred. She would be thrilled to know Garden Homes school was renamed after Mr Barbee..

We were told they were kids who went to school in buildings that needed to be repaired and they were at our school temporarily, until their schools were fixed. They had their own teachers, met in totally separate spaces (I’m not sure where…in the school basement?), ate at separate lunch times at unknown locations, and had separate recesses.

We, white kids, had very little interaction with the bus kids. However, to my shame, I recall I encountered a “bus girl” at the outside bubbler one time, when I decided she skipped in line. After being egged on by the class bully, I made a nasty and mean (unfortunately racist—fortunately not  the “N” word) comment to her. I immediately regretted what I said. I knew it was wrong and I’ve felt bad, deep in my gut, about that comment ever since. You see, sometimes you just can’t undo your actions, you have to live with the results and ask for forgiveness. That was my ONLY direct interaction with a “bus kid” that I can recall and I am sad about it.

By the time I was in maybe fifth grade, a few black kids had actually moved to the neighborhood and were part of our actual class.  By eighth grade about half our class was made up of black students and the bus kids had disappeared (at least from my young teen field of vision). And the world moved on.

Connecting the dots

It wasn’t until I was adult that I was able to connect the dots and understand that the “bus kids” were really child-victims of the city of Milwaukee’s policy of racial segregation of public schools. They were being shuttled around, even to the point of being driven back to their home schools for lunch, in an effort to hoodwink the world into believing the schools were racially integrated. (I strongly encourage you to check out these two above links to learn more).

Then, as efforts were finally made to allow black families into previously forbidden  neighborhoods, white people fled these areas like wildfire.

Questioning the story

It wasn’t until my forties that I actually thought about and started questioning the “bus kids” story. And, it wasn’t until my fifties that I sat down and read the details of what was actually happening. It was all part of a REAL racist conspiracy. It wasn’t just in MY or anyone else’s head. It HAPPENED and I was a witness to and a participant in it.

Reflections

Today, on this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day, I am reflecting on my experience. What I am coming to understand is that history isn’t something that happens to other people at particularly significant times. History is us, now. And now, and now. It isn’t something we peer at through a mental window or watch on television. History is the sum total of the lives we have led up until now. And it doesn’t change or go away because we don’t like what happened, it is part of who we are, even if it is painful in our gut. Some might say it’s our Karma. I wonder if it isn’t the clearest reflection of the Universal Body we have available to us.

So, on this important day, as we stare out at troubled times I have intense gratitude for those who have lived and fought the United States (and world-wide) civil right struggles over the centuries and I honor those living and fighting the civil rights struggles now, hour by hour and day by day. I ask for forgiveness for hurts I have inflicted on individuals and the struggle and I ask for strength to be part a constructive force as we move our universal body forward. And I invite all of my readers to join me in celebration of a man, a movement, and a struggle that may yet save us all. Thank You Dr. King!

https://youtu.be/sLQNMWHjC-0
This is a time for universal celebration!

If you are interested in contributing to the universal body in a meaningful way, consider attending the Kindred Spirits gathering this Thursday Jan. 23rd, 2020 at St. Peder’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4600 E. 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55406, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. It is a “pay what you can” gathering.

In the January session we’ll explore awareness, the first step towards making any meaningful changes in our lives. Join us!

Learn more
Categories
Ayurveda Politics of Well-Being Self-care Social Connection

A new decade emerges

As I approach the end of another trip around the sun I like to take stock of the year past and set intentions for the upcoming year. I write down key high and low lights of the year, reflect upon forward momentum, and set categorized intentions (home, friends, creative, health, career etc) for the upcoming 365 days. These intentions range from tackling specific tasks: “Clean out the basement and make it useable” and “Paint the living room,” to the more general and esoteric: “Figure out gratitude,” “weigh less, or more at this time next year” (to be honest, I’ve never set the intention to “weigh more” but one could),  Then I put the paperwork away until 365 days into to future, when I review it and again reflect and repeat.

This ritual has helped me establish a realistic perspective on my life that has served me well. I encourage you to give it a try–especially the putting the intentions away for a year part. You may be surprised by what you discover. So, after this is posted, I’ll be reflecting on the past year and anticipating my future.

I’ve been keeping New Years Journals since 1998. They have become a comforting yearly ritual that seems to produce remarkable results

And yes, post I shall–despite my resistance. And in the spirit of blogging, I’ve decided to burden the world with yet more opinions per every pundit in internet-land. This appears to be the season for posting the best and worst of the year and the decade. So, to go with the flow, and purge myself of my attachment to my opinions, I proceed.

Best non-fad food of the century

Ginger. I’ve known about the powerful effects of ginger for years and have occasionally drunk ginger tea. This year, however, I took ginger seriously and have been vigilant about using ginger therapeutically, particularly for upper respiratory situations (ie colds).  I’ve fended off a number of colds with concerted application of fresh ginger tea with honey (don’t cook the honey). And of course, miraculous ginger baths have been a staple of my cleanses for awhile. Ginger is also a great digestive aid. It’s a workhorse of an herb, is easily accessible, and tastes great!

The gnarly looking ginger root has helped me kick numerous colds this winter. Just toss a few slices of fresh ginger (or a teaspoon or so of dried ginger) into boiling water and simmer for about 20 minutes. Cool a bit and add honey and lemon. Dried ginger is a great addition to hot and and cleansing soak. I hope to add ginger to my garden this spring. Will report back.

Worst wellness food-fad of the decade

Acai. I suppose I’ll receive a lot of hate mail for this one but I find the acai berry fad symbolic of the worst of the wellness and supposed “nutrition” movement. For those not in the know, acai is touted as an anti-oxidant super food that is supposedly responsible for all sorts of miraculous results. It is harvested in Brazil and was a huge money-maker for a select group of entrepreneurs earlier in the decade. This New Yorker piece describes in painful detail the evolution of the acai phenomenon and is reminder of how what we eat effects more than just our selves, our egos, and our appetites. 

Second worst wellness food-fad of the decade (there are so many to choose from!)

The raw food movement. We need to cook much of our food in order to release the nutrients to do their nutrient jobs in our body. And besides, cooking makes a lot of our food taste a whole lot better.

Best food fad of the decade

NONE! Food fads are just that, fads, designed to line the pockets of those pushing them.

Most gratifying wellness find of 2019

Pilar Gerasimo: Pilar, who hails from the Twin Cities area, focuses her wellness work on the concept of “healthy deviance” which is the idea that those of us who choose to live healthy and happy lives are bucking the establishment. Consequently, we need to see ourselves as existing outside of the mainstream and proceed as such if we want to be healthy. She does a great job of explaining the evolutionary conundrum the human race finds itself in when it comes to our health and well-being. When I saw (and heard) her speak, I felt a sense of relief at finally finding someone who thought the way I did—ie the system is broken (that includes the system that pushes food and exercise fads) and until we see that clearly, we will be continually frustrated in our efforts to be happy.  She has a book coming out soon, The Healthy Deviant and I can’t wait to read it.

Can’t wait to read it!

Most disappointing wellness trend of the decade

Workplace Wellness Programs: While I encourage people to stay healthy and happy while on the job and I imagine some workplace wellness programs may be moderately helpful, I think, based on observation, that these programs, by and large, have simply become additional vehicles for moneyed interests to line their pockets and for employers to manipulate their work forces. If we, in the United States, are truly concerned about the health and well-being of our workforce, I suggest we pay living wages, provide universal health coverage (so people don’t stay at miserable jobs just to get health insurance), and limit the work week to no more than 40 hours. People will then have the time, space, and resources to properly manage their well-being and be happy.

Most hopeful wellness trend of the decade

The eat local movement, along with the upsurge of farmers markets in metro-areas all over the country provide healthier foods to our communities and do a great job of educating us about where our food comes from and what real food really tastes like. By visiting these markets, we come together as a community to honor the most basic of human activities—feeding ourselves and our communities.

Farmers markets are a great way to connect with the food we eat and those who labor to produce this food.

Most fun new activity of 2019

Circle Singing! Singing in general is good for the soul, our mental health, our physical health and our universal health; circles are a universal symbol of coming together. The perfect combination!

Circle singing is a form of community singing, developed for contemporary times by Bobby McFerrin, in which a leader directs a group in improvisational song. The group I sing with doesn’t seem to have any links I can provide but it is led by Judy Donaghy Vinar so if you get on her mailing list you likely will receive announcements of the monthly gatherings.

We’re in this together

Whew! I think I’ve expressed enough for now. Thanks for indulging me!

 As we head into another new decade I encourage all of us to keep our senses attuned—pay attention. There is a lot to observe out there. Let’s watch the sprouts from all the seeds of love, compassion, justice, and creativity that we’ve sewn over the decade begin to pop their heads out of the ground. Let’s nurture these sprouts as we continue to plant more seeds. Let’s care for all of our “selves”: physical, subtle/spiritual, and universal, never forgetting that we’re all in this world together and together is how we will both suffer and thrive.

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade to all of you, thank you for your support, and enjoy the ride.

Start the year out right and mark your calendars

The Kindred Spirits gathering will re-convene Thursday Jan 23rd, 2020 at St. Peder’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4600 E. 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55406, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.. Note that the sessions will be running a half hour earlier than in 2019.

In the January session we’ll explore awareness, the first step towards making any meaningful changes in our lives.

Kindred Spirits starts Jan 23.
Categories
Mindfulness Politics of Well-Being The Spirit Uncategorized

Solstice Comfort

Tomorrow is the official day of the Winter Solstice. Soon, we will begin to see tiny increases in sunlight. I’m trying to stay away from an attachment to sunlight—but it is not easy.

As the sun mysteriously disappeared over the last few months I have found myself retreating into comfort, which is not a good place for me to inhabit. I know this instinctively but have also had this validated by virtually every avenue possible: Ayurveda, the Enneagram, the Tarot, the I Ching, psychotherapy, my mother, and simple common sense.

Comfort is an insidious force. After all, comfort can feel really good at a certain level. Who doesn’t like the comfort of wrapping ourselves in a blanket in front of the tv and just zoning out for a while? But, when carried to an extreme, that comfortable situation can turn to sloth, and it can happen without us even recognizing it’s happening.

The winter solstice brings long, lazy, dark shadows early in the day (3 p.m.). But despite the darkness, the rabbits seem to stay active 24/7 (those prints are from rabbits).

Comfort and the current world

This time around, comfort manifested itself in a very uncomfortable way: current world events.

Over the past few months, I’ve found myself glued to the television, wondering how we let our world slide back into horrors I naively thought we had overcome. This triggered many difficult emotions and I pondered how or even if I could best serve the common good as my country of origin descended into the abyss. I worried that for all my commitment to mindfulness, non-violence, and compassion, I was not finding a helpful avenue for action.

tv's
The insidious comfort of politics via the TV is not serving me well.

As I basked in these feelings of despair, I began to see that my attachment to the outcome of current events is comfortable for me, as uncomfortable as it may seem. I am comfortable raging (both inwardly and outwardly) about the state of the world while ignoring ways in which I could truly contribute to the common good—the WE.

Meanwhile, life goes on

Comfort even helps me to ignore writing my Blog! I’m learning that maintaining a blog is not for the faint of heart—it requires being very uncomfortable. During my “hiatus” from my blog, life has gone on around and within me. I engaged in a semester long Tibetan Medicine class, attended a Tibetan Buddhist retreat, celebrated Thanksgiving with friends, figured out my Medicare plans (to whatever degree that is possible), visited with friends, went to shows, danced, sang, had lunches with friends, and shoveled a fair amount of snow. Yet still, in the background, this familiar dread has been murmuring, “The world is falling apart and you are doing nothing about it!” Oh, poor me, me, me, me, ME!!!

This inner voice is one with whom I’m familiar, and comfortable. It enables qualities in myself that I would do well to overcome: self-righteousness, helplessness, and cowardliness. It facilitates chronic inaction in the same way that the comfort of sitting in front of the TV day after day with a box of chocolates would.

Understanding the true nature of comfort

I think I’m finally beginning to understand the concept that comfort is not a state of joy and relaxation, but a state of passivity. It isn’t necessarily a state of physical or mental stillness but a state with which we’ve become overly familiar and to which we’ve become habituated. It could mean feeling comfort when catering to the demands of others, or a comfort with constantly being on the go, or comfort with being undervalued on the job, or comfort with aggression or timidity, or…  I see my state of comfort as a state of cowardice. And I am beginning to see this ongoing state of comfort as the enemy that hinders my ability to be of service to the world (including myself).

“If you take the negative as absolute and definitive, however, you increase your worries and anxiety, whereas by broadening the way you look at a problem, you understand what is bad about it, but you accept it…”

― Dalai Lama XIV, My Spiritual Journey

To overcome negative states, Ayurveda and Tibetan Buddhism suggest applying the opposite force. For the person who settles into the comfort of physical sloth, physical movement might be a start, or if someone is comfortable being constantly “on the go”, intentional periods of repose and contemplation may be in order.  

For me, this means staying aware and informed while wrestling with the discomfort of knowing that my inner desire to see myself as the moral arbiter of all things (political and otherwise) may not be serving either myself or the world.  It means letting go of that comfortable (but unhelpful) feeling of rage and angst. It means (and this is the really hard part) cultivating a genuine feeling of compassion towards all living beings—even those with whom I vehemently disagree. And it means recognizing that we are all connected, we all suffer and we ALL are worthy of compassion. This recognition of compassion, is in itself, an action. It’s a small seed waiting to bloom.

“Profound happiness, unlike fleeting pleasures, is spiritual by nature. It depends on the happiness of others, and it is based on love and tenderness. We”

Dalai Lama XIV, My Spiritual Journey

A seed germinates

Yesterday I was blind-sided by the news that a major Christian evangelical publication had spoken out against some of the behavior of those actively sewing seeds of hate. This happened a week or so after I decided to just let go (at least for now) of my obsession with current affairs and earnestly try to practice compassion. I felt a remarkable feeling of relief after reading of the germination of this seed and reminded myself that this had nothing to do with “me” and everything to do with “we”.

Kindred Spirits reconvenes

The Kindred Spirits gathering will re-convene Thursday Jan 23rd, 2020 at St. Peder’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4600 E. 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55406, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.. Note that the sessions will be running a half hour earlier than in 2019..

In the January session we’ll explore awareness, the first step towards making any meaningful changes in our lives.

Categories
Ayurveda Cleansing Politics of Well-Being

Autumn: The season of cleansing

Fall weather, is in full swing. In Minneapolis, after an unbearably wet start to the season, we’ve been treated to a few classic, clear and colorful days. But we’re not expecting them to last. Snow is forecast for the weekend  (and people just can’t stop talking about it).

As I’ve navigated the season, I’m reminded that September and October are difficult months for me. They elicit sadness and grieving and require my special attention. This is especially challenging because autumn is also the time for putting the gardens to bed, tidying up the yard, and putting away all the yard stuff I spent so much time setting up just a few months ago. At a time when I’m not at what I would call, an “energetic high”, I’m expected to dig and tote to turn the patio and gardens into barren landscapes. It doesn’t do a whole lot for my mood.

Patio fall cleanup. Dragging in the hose is my least favorite task. But it’s put away nicely.

In recent years, I’ve added dietary cleanses to my fall ritual. Fall and spring, considered in many traditions to be transitional seasons, when the weather is wild and the winds are blowing, are the seasons in which to perform these rituals. They are not necessarily easy affairs, but they have become significant and helpful rituals in my physical, spiritual, and creative life. In the same way that Autumn blows away the summer heat, a cleanse clears out the stale energy of summer and creates space for new possibilities.  

The garden it going through it’s own cleansing process. Shedding it’s seeds and leaves.

Cleanses happen at many levels

Meanwhile, back at the universal body, the folks in Washington DC are in the midst of a detoxifying ritual of their own. And, similar to a dietary cleanse, the larger body is resisting the act of detoxifying.

What I’ve learned about cleanses is that persistence and discomfort are the key to a successful dietary cleanse. If you stop your cleanse when things become uncomfortable, the toxins that you’ve finally drawn to the surface will remain in your body and continue to do damage, just closer to the surface.

Comfort can be my enemy

I experienced this effect a number of years ago when I engaged in a heavy metal dietary detox in the winter (the absolute worst time –other than summer—to detox). I did it because I felt like it and just had to do it “now”. Advice be damned.  The detox drew out toxins in the form of a nasty skin condition that, on one hand exposed a situation so I could deal with it, but one which took me years to get under control. It would have been a lot easier to manage, had I performed the detox at the right time of year and extended the elimination (of toxins) piece longer. But I let discomfort get the best of me.

The heavy metals cleanse includes consuming clay (above) suspended in water. It is a bit on the unpalatable side but is absolutely necessary to clear the toxins out of the body. Because of the comfort factor, it’s easy to minimize the importance of this step but one does so at ones peril.

Generally, I find it is too easy to stick with what is comfortable, even though I am fully aware that in many ways “comfort” is the enemy. Ayurveda confirms this, the Enneagram confirms this, and my life experience confirms this.  It is so easy  to just fiddle endlessly with my website or design Instagram posts, rather than doing something a little more challenging, like writing this blog post.  As soon as a dietary cleanse becomes a little uncomfortable, I’m tempted to quit. But, quitting just makes life more difficult.

Pushing the cleanse comfort envelope

It looks like finally, in Washington, people are resisting discomfort and pushing through to clean things up. I admire these people because I know the process is not easy. I think that it’s no coincidence that this process is happening in the fall. It’s the right time.

I learned the wisdom of pushing the comfort envelope last spring during my last cleanse. By fully sticking with both a digestive and heavy metals cleanse I saw—to my astonishment—my endless, almost unbearable skin condition simply disappear. (Sorry, I don’t have any photos of the condition but it was terribly oozy and itchy and gross.) AND I experienced my first summer without seasonal allergies in about fifteen years. I didn’t need to take a single Clariton all summer!

I can’t say for absolute sure that the cleanses were the cause of these nice developments but the relief did come as the cleanses progressed. I’ve lived with the discomfort of not absolutely knowing for sure what caused what for awhile now. Long enough, it seems, to understand that sometimes the best action is just to set an intention, take a few steps forward, observe, sometimes follow the rules, pay attention, listen, trust the process, and see what happens. We may be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

October community gathering

The October Kindred Spirits gathering will happen Thursday October 24 at St. Peder’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4600 E. 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55406, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

In this session, we’ll explore what it means to create space, and reflect on healthy approaches to establishing our own physical, emotional, and spiritual spaces, in which to thrive.

Join us.
Here’s a lovely ode to autumn.
Categories
Politics of Well-Being Self-care

As seasons change the natural order emerges

Below the Soil-line

My block has been getting a haircut this week. Chain saws and cherry picker trucks are making their way up and down the block, pruning out branches from gangly trees. Trucks, chain saws, cherry pickers, rakes, and new faces are breaking the quiet calm of the neighborhood. There is nothing like the sound of a chainsaw in the morning to get me up and about.

The changing of the season is reflected in the tree trimming.
The tree trimmer machinery was on the block preparing the trees for winter.

Autumn is the season for this sort of activity. Many trees are best pruned in the cooler weather, and it feels natural to see piles of branches on the ground, waiting for pickup. This is, after all, the time of year when things start to fall down. Apples are being picked, tomatoes are making their last hurrah, and generally mother nature is shedding herself of her fruit. So, the tree trimming seems like a natural extension of seasonal rhythms.

Shifting inward as the season changes

Preparing for winter is a thoughtful affair. I’m looking at a long stretch of pulling closer to myself, with introspection, and quiet, but I find it a little confusing that even though winter feels like a more inward time, I am driven to be more productive and focused on outside work during winter than I do other seasons. I wonder if that is because there seems to be little else to do in our dark, cold winter; or maybe it is the natural order of things. Maybe, as the flora sits buried under the mulch during the cold months, more is going on than meets the eye.

The garden is looking a little tired from all the summer activity. The little prairie on the alley, which flourished this summer, is in full bloom but looking a little faded and worn out. I wonder about what is going on down there beneath the soil line to enable this little miracle to reappear in the spring and flourish throughout the summer, despite the brutal winter conditions to which it is subjected.

The seasonal changes are reflected in the parairie garden
The look of the prairie in the spring is very different at summer’s end. The pink puff balls on the right are native Prairie Onions. In the foreground the Prairie Sage has sprawled majestically. The Milkweed in the background is barely visible in the spring picture. The Pussy Toes, the fuzzy flowers on the left, are barely visible by summers end.

The echinacea, which astonished me this year by pretty much taking over its garden space (after a very sparse year the previous summer), is ready for a break. What happened over the winter that enabled a few lonely echinacea plants to turn into an echinacea jungle?

Ehinacea reflects seasonal changes.
The Ehinacea is pretty worn out come summer’s end.

Finding the natural order

These days the world in general is also looking faded and worn out, as we teeter on the edge of the abyss. I find myself hoping, against hope, that things are happening under the soil line, out of my line of sight, that are creating the conditions for our world to somehow make it through what has been very long winter. What I do know is that under the soil line each microorganism, mineral, and animal has a purpose and a function that contributes to spring regeneration. This understanding motivates me to pay attention to the seasonal changes and prompts me to try to put myself in a position to contribute to the natural order of things.

So now I’m preparing and storing food for the winter and planning my fall cleanses. I’m planning my fall plantings and reviewing schedules for winter activities. I’m setting intentions and making commitments. If I wasn’t blogging, Facebooking, and Instagramming these activities, much of what I’d be doing would be below the soil line but I guess social media has changed all that.

Garlic is harvested and cleaned with change of the season.
Garlic went into the ground last fall, was harvested in mid July, cured, then cleaned and trimmed a few days ago.

The bustle of the tree pruning is slowing and the block looks nice and tidy, is a little bit brighter, and is a lot quieter. The trees look lighter and happier and more sun is penetrating the canopy. They appear ready to do their underground winter work.

I wonder if our world couldn’t use a little pruning. Maybe it’s time to pull out our big inner machinery and clear out the energetic forces that are blocking the sunlight so we can begin the real work of allowing our planet to thrive. And we can only do that if we each do our own work below the soil line. If we do that, then maybe there is hope.

Community Gathering

I will be hosting a monthly gathering at St. Peder’s church, 4600 E 42nd St, Minneapolis, MN 55406 in South Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood. Cost is $25 per session. If you are seeking support for thriving, and fully contributing to our broken world, consider attending. You can learn more at Healing-ground.com/

This cool video captures the essence of how I imagine life below the soil line: full of activity, imagination, curiosity, and enlightenment. Thanks to Dan Rather for locating and publishing this video via FaceBook (@thedanrather).
Categories
Politics of Well-Being Research

Here we go again: No quick fixes

Pills

Does this sound familiar? A wonder medical drug treatment protocol sweeps through the medical establishment, is imposed on millions of people, becomes the “go to” method for preventing major diseases and encourages the belief that by simply taking a pill and individual can significantly improve their health. Then, years later, after actual longitudinal (extended over time) research is conducted, the protocol is declared null and void for general use. This time the drug is aspirin and the protocol is the use of an aspirin a day to prevent cardio-vascular disease and stroke.

Anyone who has visited their primary care physician over the last few decades has been asked if they have been taking their aspirin every day (to which, thankfully, I have answered “no”). This aspirin-a-day was supposed to lower our odds of experiencing cardiovascular disease. Now, it turns out, it doesn’t lower our odds, and, in fact, it may be harmful.  

It’s not just “a bottle of aspirin” anymore.

The history and efficacy of aspirin is reviewed in an interesting piece in The Lancet (May 2019) which concludes, “in 2018, three large randomized clinical trials of aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease showed little or no benefit and have even suggested net harm.”

Sowing distrust of health care

I find the cavalier attitude towards pharmaceutical research and public pronouncements to be maddening. Time and time again, from Thalidomide in the 1950s and 60s to Oxycodone in the 2010s, public health is compromised to the short-term interests of an establishment that has little interest in the actual health and well-being of the public. This attitude sows distrust of all health and well-being modalities, including conventional medicine, and feeds the cynical “oh well, we’re all going to die so who cares” attitude so prevalent today. It also casts dangerous shadows of doubt on the safety of well-proven and tested, public health initiatives.

And it affects people’s lives

My first experience with this phenomenon began in the early 1990s and concluded in the early 2000s. I was told I absolutely needed to take estrogen to counteract my risk for heart disease (after the debacle I described last week). I didn’t think I had a choice so I took it faithfully for about ten years, despite the miserable and debilitating side effects I experienced. One day, on the car radio, I heard a news report that said new studies showed estrogen replacement therapy not only didn’t improve a woman’s risk for heart disease, but it INCREASED her risk. I remember saying out loud: “Oh #$%^!” I went home and disposed of the hormones and, surprise, over a short period, after ten years, I started feeling happy and healthy again.

This happens how?

This cycle has deep roots and can be traced to our economic system, which dictates the parameters of our health care and pharmaceutical systems, which directs the behavior of individual practitioners, which influences the behavior of individual patients and clients, which then effects the broader public. The system under which we live is optimized for short-term results and short-term gain. Unfortunately, well-being, healing, and public health don’t work that way. Healing takes time and health and well-being develop over a lifetime. The problem also lies in the research establishment. The same economic system incentivizes publication of research that shows narrow short-term results but ignores the bigger picture.

Since changing the economic system that underlies the problem is difficult for any one individual, I suggest we each wage a guerrilla war against the narrow perspective that enables these practices.

Again, with the universal body

First, we can individually widen our perspective, remember the universal body, and engage with it on an ongoing basis. By engaging with the world at large, the big-picture view becomes clearer and the silliness of believing any single pill or food will solve our problems becomes obvious.

Educate

Second, we can educate ourselves, be more thoughtful, and stop worshiping the holy grail of clinical research: the randomized control trial. Randomized control trials, while sometimes helpful, are not the only approach to research. They are especially touted by, and are useful for, the pharmaceutical companies and large research institutions that have the financial resources to perform this style of research. And, often these trials are a snapshot of a very short period of time of a very small sample of participants. They become expensive and cumbersome when carried out over a significant length of time. And, today, we are beginning to understand that information that doesn’t conform to the research funder’s required results is often suppressed.

To this end, I suggest we start paying more attention to case reports. This approach has a long, insightful, history in the annals of medicine. No single case report explains everything or even anything. But collections of well indexed case reports can illuminate patterns and trends over time and enlighten our research.

Pay attention

And, of course, it’s essential to pay attention to our own experience and learn to trust our insights and when necessary to speak them out loud. This knowledge can be invaluable when communicating with our selves and our practitioners, providing information that will never be reveled in clinical control studies.

Trust your experience and share it with your well-being practitioners.

Finally, we can remember that research reports are human constructs, created and written by human beings, and subject to human error. No one study is last word on anything. It is simply a tiny piece of a giant puzzle–not unlike life. It is the collection of all sorts of investigations and experiences that best forms the basis of our well-being choices.

Any given research study is simply a piece of a very large puzzle.

Epilogue

As I was working on this post, I saw a NEW STUDY!!!! announcement on Facebook. It indicated that supplementation of several vitamins/minerals are helpful in the management of anxiety. They very well be helpful in the management of anxiety, I don’t know. But I’m not running out to purchase them any time soon.