Tag: selfcare

Categories
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 Cleansing

The Kitchari Cleanse, part 1

The next stage of my fall cleansing is the Kitchari cleanse. This is an Ayurvedic style digestive cleanse designed to balance the mind body and spirit. It involves eating Kitchari (and ONLY Kitchari), a mung-bean, rice, and ghee based dish daily for the length of the cleanse (seven days, in my case), performing self-message and oliation daily (Abhyanga), soaking the body in a very hot ginger bath nightly, and spending time shifting your gaze inward. Truth be told, it’s a time of self examination.

The Kitchari cleanse is a three stage process. Step one is preparation, step two is the active phase, and step three is rejuvenation. It’s easy to skimp on phases one and three and just jump in and out of phase two. In our culture it’s the natural thing to do–just dive in. But over time, I’ve begun to see the folly in that strategy (if you can call it a strategy). Not properly preparing in advance for the cleanse means you’re wasting valuable cleansing time going through preparation. You can’t skip that part.

Peparation

When I prepare for seasonal cleanses I choose the time for the cleanse well in advance. I clear my calendar as much as I am able. I don’t want to put super strenuous activities on my agenda during a cleanse. Cleansing time is a time for inward focus and contemplation.

As cleansing time nears, I find it good to slow down and begin to contemplate my intentions for the cleanse. In other words, I want to clarify for myself why I’m taking the time to do this.

Then there are the logistical considerations. At minimum I want to stock the Kitchari Ingredients and the oils I will need for the Abhyanga. I also need the ginger bath supplies. While it isn’t absolutely necessary to use, I also like to supplement the Kitchari with an herbal medicated ghee preparation and have other specialty oils on hand. You also want to consider what special foods you may want for rejuvenation and, if not eaten fresh, purchase them in advance so you have them when you need them.

My stuff.

Ingredients

The Kitchari is simple to make and has only a few basic ingredients. It is a porridge like stew made up of split mung beans, basmati rice, ghee, and spices (both ground and whole): cumin, colander, fennel, black pepper and turmeric. Some recipes include brown mustard seed and occasionally I add black cumin. I also add a little salt. You can also add vegetables if you want. I’ll be adding carrots, onions, and spinach to my first batch. I was considering substituting millet for rice this time around but I think I’ve changed my mind for reasons that I may explain in a post far in the future.

There are as many Kitchari recipes on the web as there are people making it. I usually start with the one published by Savastha Ayurveda. Her recipe uses more items than some and I don’t always use all of them and sometimes I add different vegetables. You can also substitute red lentils for the mung beans, although I like mung beans for their high protein content. I also cook my Kitchari longer than the recipe calls for. Everything in the stew needs to be well cooked–soft. Yes, even the carrots (if you’re using them) and especially the rice. The mung beans dissolve and are the basis of the stew. This soft quality of the Kitchari is one of the reasons it is so cleansing–it is very easy for your system to digest.

It’s a good idea to buy these ingredients in advance because you’ll be cooking with them every day for a week. The split mung beans and spices I purchase online from an excellent Ayurvedic retailer, Banyan Botanicals out of Albuquerque New Mexico. I like them because their products are clean and fresh and certified organic. You can find split mung beans at a number of local Indian grocery stores but the beans are typically not organic and are of questionable age. I can tell the Banyan products are fresh by how they cook up and by how they smell (and look). Penzy’s is another great option for spices. I don’t think they are certified organic but they are obviously fresh and well sourced. Penzy’s is by all accounts a terrific company.

Cumin Turmeric and Corriander
The big three: Cumin, Turmeric, and Coriander are used in most Ayurvedic (and other Indian) cooking. They are full of medicinal qualities. I buy from Banyan but would also recommend you purchase from Penzy’s spices. They are a great company and are very aware of the universal body.

The basic oils I use for Abhyanga are organic sesame and organic coconut (sesame when I want a warming oil and coconut when I want cooling). I also use specialty oils based on my dosha (more about that at an undetermined date). Here’s a good video showing how to do the oliation/massage. Fyi: unlike in the video, it can get messy. Unless you have a gigantic spa-like bathroom like in the video, I suggest you clear things out of your bathing area that will just get in the way. You’ll be soaking, massaging, and oliating in that room and the fewer unnecessary things you have in that room, the easier it will be to clean up.

In addition I use nasal oils and am trying a new ear oil. The coconut oil I purchase at Seward Coop in Minneapolis. You can purchase plain organic sesame oil at the coop too but I buy the sesame and specialty oils from either Banyan or another excellent Ayurvedic vendor, Savastha Ayurveda (out of Boulder CO).

  • Oils
    Oleation Oils (seseme and coconut can also be used for cooking). Two specialty oils (far left and far right) are formulated for people of particular constitutions. The one on the left is warming and the right one is cooling.
  • Specialty Oils and Medicated Ghee
    Specialty Oils.
  • Basmati Rice and Millet
    Basmati rice and millet.

Make sure you have easy access to a lot of towels. You also want to put fresh, but possibly older, linens on your bed knowing that they will be absorbing oil (even though you soak after your Abhyanga, your body will still be oily, including your hair). I have a special set of sheets I use only during cleansing time. That way I don’t ruin all my sheets. FYI, you clean the oil off your body in the morning with either a hot shower or soak. You’ll be washing your hair a lot that week.

Rejuvenation supplies

It’s a good idea to have the rejuvenation supplies on hand too. Rejuvenation is a phase of introducing foods and activities that nourish and replenish us. Ghee (more about that in a few) is a great rejuvenation food. I also like to use Triphala tea in the rejuvenation phase (and beyond). It’s a powder made up three ground dried berries that have many replenishing properties. Triphala is replenishing to the blood and aids in reducing inflammation. It is also great for digestion and elimination. I’m trying a new product this year: Chyavanprash which is an herbal jam. Here’s a picture of the ingredients. I haven’t given enough thought to the rejuvenation phase in the past so this is my attempt at becoming more aware of it. We’ll see how it goes.

Label
Here’s what Chyavanprash is supposed to do. Impressive.
Here are the ingredients in Chyavanprash. It looks sweet and rich but that could be deceiving. Will report back.

So, those are the supplies I am stocking for this Kitchari Cleanse. I must say that photographing and blogging about all these items provides quite a different experience than I’ve had in the past. It’s a little difficult to fix my gaze inward while also trying to reflect things outwardly. It produces a push and pull feeling. We’ll see how far I get in reporting how it’s going. You’ll probably hear more about this.

The best part: Ghee!

The final, and very important item is ghee. Ghee is boiled butter and provides the oil for the Kitchari. It is also often taken on its own during a cleanse. You can purchase ghee but is is expensive and not made in your own kitchen. I learned to make ghee from Ruolph Ballentine’s book, Diet and Nutrition. If you are interested in how ghee is made, you can watch my first attempt at cooking while video taping below. Cooking ghee one-handed is quite an experience!

Break the butter up into the pan and heat up using medium-high heat.
More separation.
More separation, color change.
Second foaming.
It looks burnt but it’s not. The bits are actually brown. I suppose I need to learn how to do lighting now!
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.

Categories
Ayurveda Mindfulness Self-care Social Connection

An Anniversary

Celebrate?

Twenty-eight years ago, this week, I thought I had six months left to live.

I learned the startling news on a grueling hot day, not unlike today. I was told by physicians that I had a serious health condition that was probably terminal and that I’d “be awfully lucky” if it was a different condition (as I suggested to the physician it might be). My most vivid memory of that time is riding the clinic elevator, alone, in semi-hysterical tears, medical records in hand, heading out to have my various body parts scanned and prodded. People in the elevator looked at me, sobbing uncontrollably, like they just wished they weren’t there.  I can’t blame them for that.

A few weeks later, after extensive surgery, I discovered I was, in fact, “awfully lucky.” I wasn’t dead, nor was I intact, but I was alive. I was shaken to my core, but I was alive.

Thinking I was going to die, only to discover that, oops, I was right about the “different condition” and I would live on, was a surreal experience. I felt a combination of terror and relief at the idea that I had diagnosed myself more accurately than had those with years of medical training. Later, as I was struggling with what this all meant, I felt guilty that, after being given a death sentence, I didn’t suddenly have a revelation that all things in life were wonderful, nor was I inclined to run down the street proclaiming “I’m alive”, like in the movies. Despite the kindness of friends and loved ones, all I felt for a long time was alone in a confusing trauma. And, I was pissed-off …all the time.

I was confused, alone, conflicted and pissed.

Recovery from that experience took at least a decade and required a great deal of self-examination and reflection. I ruminated over how I ended up in such a difficult situation. I reviewed my past and I how I had approached my health. As I struggled to feel better, I found little support from the conventional medical system. But I persisted—I felt I had no choice. Over time, several key observations became apparent:

Buck Up!

  • I’d been raised in the “buck up” school of health.
  • This “buck up” attitude taught me to not pay attention to my body, mind, or spirit (whatever that was), and, it taught me to not talk about my health with anyone–these things were private matters.
  • The conventional western approach to health did of good job of eliminating the physical manifestation of my issue, once it was out of control,  but had hindered any chance I may have had of dealing with the situation years earlier, when it was not life threatening.
I’d been raised in the “buck up” school of health.

A difficult journey

Since then, I’ve embarked on a journey of discovery that has taken many wild twists and turns and seen setbacks and advances. When I look around now, I feel like I have ascended from the depths and am living a full, exciting, and happy life.  For this life, I can thank traditional Chinese medicine, conventional western medicine, ayurvedic medicine, energy work, body work, Pilates, yoga, reiki, music, painting, many other practices, friends, colleagues, family, strangers, and my own internal resources for supporting me in this turnaround. 

Ascent from the underworld

I haven’t thought about this anniversary in quite a few years and have never acknowledged it out loud (or in print) before. But like all anniversaries, it deserves to be acknowledged and named. And so, I’ll name it Persephone, in celebration of my descent to the underworld and return to the world of the living.

I’ll name it Persephone, in celebration of my descent to the underworld and return to the world of the living.