tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39595482373691443732024-02-08T12:20:27.035-05:00Musings of a taichi acupuncturistAn introspective commentary on life in New York...Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-59294842974386663282010-10-01T17:43:00.002-04:002010-10-01T17:47:41.560-04:00From Swami BeyondandaNews!<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: left; width: 600px;"><tbody>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">September 30, 2010</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></td></tr>
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</span> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Lose Weightiness Now!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">"I lost weightiness ... ask me how!"<br />
-- Swami Beyondananda</span></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">In these stressful times, it's easy to gain weightiness. Weightiness gain is not your fault!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Work ... the economy ... and now the election season ... and pretty soon ... yes, that's right. You've gained weightiness. Well, if gravity's got you down, let levity lift you up!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Here are just some of the serious problems that can be caused by overweightiness:</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><ul><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Irregularhilarity.</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Humorrhoids.</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Irony deficiency.</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Truth decay.</span></li>
</ul></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Absolutely FREE here is Swami's 5 step program to lose weightiness now!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">1. Take a vow of levity! Remember, levity will help you rise above whatever is bringing you down. In a toxic situation? Laughter will keep you from taking it poisonally. Feel the levitational pull uplifting the corners of your mouth into a smile. You want to uplift humankind? Uplift your face first! Here is the levity vow: "All for fun ... and fun for all!"</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">2. Don't Get Even -- Get Odd. Instead of staying stuck in dueling dualities, use your one-of-a-kindness to find the odd solution that beats the heck out of getting even.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">3. When You See a Sacred Cow Milk It For All It's Worth. When our sacred cows give the milk of human kindness, we are fortified to take the bull by the horns.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">4. Enlighten Your Load. Is your life stuffed with stuff? Unstuff it! Stuff is a major cause of weightiness. You'll be surprised that the more liquid you get, the more solid you will feel.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">5. Wake Up Laughing, and Wise Up Loving. Time to wake up. You'll never lose weightiness if you keep hitting snooze. Wake up with a laugh, and end the day with an embrace, and if you are alone ... embrace yourself, and immerse yourself in a warm solution of love.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">And in addition to these five steps toward fool-realization, a vital laugh force, and fully opened clown chakra, here are four things you can do every day!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></span></td></tr>
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</span> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Daily Weightiness Loss Exercise Plan.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">1. Wake up laughing. As Swami says, "If you wake up with a funny feeling ... go with it." If you don't immediately laugh upon rising, then rise and start laughing. Nothing funny? Go look in the bathroom mirror. If you're still not laughing, pretend you're looking at someone else. Do that, and you'll laugh.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">2. Do Ha-Ha-Ha Breaths. Very important to move the laugh force early in the day to insure regularhilarity. So, we use the vowel sounds, and we put a h- in front of it ... so we begin way up here at the top of our heads with a hee-hee-hee. Then we move down to the throat and we chuckle a heh-heh-heh. Next, down to the heart for some hearty laughter, ha-ha-ha, and now the belly laugh ho-ho-ho. and way down to the bottom hoo-hoo-hoo ... and now move the vowel sounds back up hoo-hoo-hoo, ho-ho-ho, ha-ha-ha, heh-heh-heh, hee-hee-hee ... ah, nothing like a good vowel movement early in the day.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">3. Enlighten Up the News. You want to know where most weightiness gain occurs? In the morning, eating breakfast and watching the news or reading the paper. Why? All the studies are conclusive: The news puts on weightiness, and is a major factor in truth decay. That's why we recommend using mental floss after every serving of mainstream media. Just put your thumb and forefinger about six inches from each ear. Ready? Then, with a gentle back and forth motion, dislodge all the illogical logic, all the petrified bullshit, and every dysfunctional belief masquerading as reality. Ahhh ... you will feel so much better. Your synapses will start synapping again.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">4. Play at Work, Work at Play. You know what the secret of a happy life is? To be able to answer yes to the question, "From this you make a living?" If you aren't doing what you love -- or at least loving what you do -- you are slathering on pounds of excess weightiness! So ... if you can't be with the work you love, love the work you're with. And if you hate the work you're with, love hating it. Invent a hilarious character, and use that character to complain loudly about everything you hate. Then laugh.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #eeeeee;">Note. If you begin feeling lightheaded due to sudden weightiness loss, simply surrender to the levitational pull. If symptoms of ascension continue, consult your metaphysician.</span></span></div></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-55257552268629448012010-09-29T16:31:00.000-04:002010-09-29T16:31:02.520-04:00NYT Article: Though Hard to Measure, Tai Chi Pays Health DividendsBy JANE E. BRODY<br />
<br />
New York Times, September 28, 2010<br />
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The graceful, dancelike progression of meditative poses called tai chi originated in ancient China as a martial art, but the exercise is best known in modern times as a route to reduced stress and enhanced health. After reviewing existing scientific evidence for its potential health benefits, I've concluded that the proper question to ask yourself may not be why you should practice tai chi, but why not. <br />
<br />
It is a low-impact activity suitable for people of all ages and most states of health, even those who "hate" exercise or have long been sedentary. It is a gentle, calming exercise - some call it meditation in motion - that involves deep breathing but no sweat or breathlessness.<br />
<br />
It places minimal stress on joints and muscles and thus is far less likely than other forms of exercise to cause muscle soreness or injury. It requires no special equipment or clothing and can be practiced almost anywhere at any time, alone or with others.<br />
<br />
Once the proper technique is learned from a qualified instructor, continuing to practice it need not cost another cent.<br />
<br />
The many small studies of tai chi have found health benefits ranging from better balance and prevention of falls to reduced blood pressure, relief of pain and improved immunity.<br />
<br />
The latest and perhaps best designed study was conducted among patients with debilitating fibromyalgia, a complex and poorly understood pain syndrome. <br />
<br />
Dr. Chenchen Wang and colleagues at Tufts Medical Center in Boston reported in August in The New England Journal of Medicine that tai chi reduced pain and fatigue and improved the patients' ability to move, function physically and sleep. The benefits persisted long after the 12 weeks of tai chi sessions ended. <br />
<br />
The study was financed primarily by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. To be sure, documenting tai chi's purported health benefits is a challenge. As an editorial in the journal noted, it is virtually impossible to design an ideal study of tai chi. There is no "fake" version that could serve as a proper control to be tested against the real thing. Thus, researchers have to rely on less-than-perfect comparison groups. In the fibromyalgia study, for example, the control group was given stretching exercises and wellness education.<br />
<br />
And unlike evaluations of drugs, tai chi studies cannot be double-blinded such that neither patients nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment. Those guided by a tai chi master would undoubtedly know who they are and could be influenced by the teacher's enthusiasm for the practice. <br />
<br />
Still, scientists have come to better understand and appreciate the mind-body connection, which for too long was dismissed as nothing more than a placebo effect, and most doctors are now more willing to accept the possibility that stress-reducing activities can have a profound effect on health.<br />
<br />
A Stress Reducer<br />
<br />
There is no question that tai chi can reduce stress. As the study authors described it, tai chi "combines meditation with slow, gentle, graceful movements, as well as deep breathing and relaxation to move vital energy (called qi by the Chinese) throughout the body." <br />
<br />
If nothing else, this kind of relaxing activity can lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve cardiovascular fitness and enhance mood. For example, a review in 2008 found that tai chi lowered blood pressure in 22 of 26 published studies.<br />
<br />
Thus, it can be a useful aid in treating heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, conditions common among older people who may be unable to benefit from more physically demanding exercise. <br />
<br />
Regular practitioners of tai chi report that they sleep better, feel healthier and experience less pain and stiffness, though it cannot be said for certain that tai chi alone is responsible for such benefits.<br />
<br />
Yet as Dr. Wang and co-authors noted in an earlier report that analyzed the literature on tai chi and health, a majority of studies have been small and poorly controlled, if they were controlled at all. Therefore, the tai chi practitioners could have been healthier to begin with or could have practiced other health-enhancing habits. <br />
<br />
Perhaps the best-documented benefit of tai chi, and one that is easiest to appreciate, is its ability to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls, even in people in their 80s and 90s. The moves are done in a smooth, continuous fashion, as weight is shifted from one leg to the other and arms are moved rhythmically. This can improve muscle strength and flexibility, and enable the muscles in the legs and hips to function in a more coordinated and balanced manner. Thus, practitioners become more stable and sure-footed.<br />
<br />
Another benefit, again especially important to older adults, is the apparent ability of tai chi to improve immune function. In a 2007 study also financed by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine center, those who practiced tai chi had a better response to the varicella zoster vaccine that can help prevent shingles. <br />
<br />
Talk to a Doctor First<br />
<br />
Tai chi is not a substitute for professional medical care, but rather an adjunct to such care and a way to keep debility at bay. As with other forms of alternative medicine, it is best to consult your physician before signing up for instruction.<br />
<br />
This is especially important if you are a pregnant woman or have serious physical limitations, joint problems, back pain or advanced osteoporosis. While such conditions do not preclude practicing tai chi, you may have to modify or avoid certain positions.<br />
<br />
Although tai chi is a gentle exercise, one can get carried away. Overdoing any activity, including tai chi, can result in sore or sprained muscles. On its Web site, the Complementary and Alternative Medicine center notes that "tai chi instructors often recommend that you do not practice tai chi right after a meal, or when you are very tired, or if you have an active infection." <br />
<br />
Also important is assurance that your instructor is well qualified. Instructors do not have to be licensed, and the practice is not regulated by any governmental authority. There are many styles of tai chi - the yang style is most commonly practiced in Western countries - and there are no established training standards.<br />
<br />
Traditionally, would-be instructors learn from a master teacher. Before choosing an instructor, you'd be wise to inquire about the person's training and experience.<br />
<br />
Learning tai chi from a qualified instructor is critical. The Complementary and Alternative Medicine center cautions that trying to learn it from a book or video is no guarantee that you will be able to perform the moves safely and correctly. [...]<br />
<br />
Finally, attending a few sessions or even a 12-week course is not enough to guarantee lasting health benefits. As with any other form of exercise, tai chi must be practiced regularly and indefinitely to maintain its value.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-40387563100973336082010-08-20T12:35:00.000-04:002010-08-20T12:35:31.021-04:00NY Times article on Taichi and Fibromyalgia<nyt_byline> <h6 class="byline">By <a class="meta-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/pam_belluck/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Pam Belluck">PAM BELLUCK</a></h6></nyt_byline><div class="articleTools"><div class="box"><div class="inset"><div class="articleToolsSponsor" id="Frame4A"><!-- ADXINFO classification="button" campaign="foxsearch2010_emailtools_1225559c_nyt5"--> </div></div></div></div><div class="articleBody"> <nyt_text> <nyt_correction_top> </nyt_correction_top> The ancient Chinese practice of <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0912611">tai chi may be effective as a therapy for fibromyalgia</a>, according to a study published on Thursday in The <a class="meta-org" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/new_england_journal_of_medicine/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about New England Journal of Medicine">New England Journal of Medicine</a>. <br />
A clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center found that after 12 weeks of tai chi, patients with <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/fibromyalgia/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Fibromyalgia.">fibromyalgia</a>, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/sleeping-difficulty/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Sleeping difficulty.">sleeplessness</a> and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education. Tai chi patients were also more likely to sustain improvement three months later. <br />
“It’s an impressive finding,” said Dr. Daniel Solomon, chief of clinical research in rheumatology at <a class="meta-org" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/brigham_and_womens_hospital/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Brigham and Women's Hospital">Brigham and Women’s Hospital</a> in Boston, who was not involved in the research. “This was a well-done study. It was kind of amazing that the effects seem to carry over.” <br />
Although the study was small, 66 patients, several experts considered it compelling because fibromyalgia is a complex and often-confusing condition, affecting five million Americans, mostly women, according to the <a class="meta-org" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/centers_for_disease_control_and_prevention/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>. Since its symptoms can be wide-ranging and can mimic other disorders, and its diagnosis depends largely on patients’ descriptions, not blood tests or biopsies, its cause and treatment have been the subject of debate. <br />
“We thought it was notable that The New England Journal accepted this paper, that they would take fibromyalgia on as an issue, and also because tai chi is an alternative therapy that some people raise eyebrows about,” said Dr. Robert Shmerling, clinical chief of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, co-author of <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1006315">an editorial about the study</a>. <br />
“Fibromyalgia is so common, and we have such a difficult time treating it effectively. It’s defined by what the patient tells you,” he added. “It’s hard for some patients’ families and their doctors to get their head around what it is and whether it’s real. So, that these results were so positive for something that’s very safe is an impressive accomplishment.” <br />
Recent studies have suggested that tai chi, with its slow exercises, breathing and meditation, could benefit patients with other chronic conditions, including <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/arthritis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Arthritis and Rheumatism.">arthritis</a>. But not all of these reports have been conclusive, and tai chi is hard to study because there are many styles and approaches. <br />
The fibromyalgia study involved the yang style of tai chi, taught by a Boston tai chi master, Ramel Rones. Dr. Solomon and other experts cautioned that bigger studies with other masters and approaches were necessary. <br />
Still, patients, who received twice-weekly tai chi classes and a DVD to practice with 20 minutes daily, showed weekly improvement on an established measurement, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, improving more than the stretching-and-education group in physicians’ assessments, sleep, walking and <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/mentalhealthanddisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about mental health and disorders.">mental health</a>. One-third stopped using medication, compared with one-sixth in the stretching group. <br />
Dr. Chenchen Wang, a Tufts rheumatologist who led the study, said she attributed the results to the fact that “fibromyalgia is a very complex problem” and “tai chi has multiple components — physical, psychological, social and spiritual.” <br />
The therapy impressed Mary Petersen, 59, a retired phone company employee from Lynn, Mass., who said that before participating in the 2008 study, “I couldn’t walk half a mile,” and it “hurt me so much just to put my hands over my head.” Sleeping was difficult, and she was overweight. “There was no joy to life,” she said. “I was an entire mess from head to foot.” <br />
She had tried and rejected medication, <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/physicaltherapy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about physical therapy.">physical therapy</a>, swimming and other approaches. “I was used to being treated in a condescending manner because they couldn’t diagnose me: ‘She’s menopausal, she’s crazy.’ ” <br />
Before the study, “I didn’t know tai chi from a sneeze,” said Ms. Petersen, who has <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/diabetes/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Diabetes.">diabetes</a> and other conditions. “I was like, ‘Well, O.K., I’ll get to meet some people, it will get me out of the house.’ I didn’t believe any of it. I thought this is so minimal, it’s stupid.” <br />
After a few weeks, she said she began to feel better, and after 12 weeks “the pain had diminished 90 percent.” She has continued tai chi, lost 50 pounds and can walk three to seven miles a day. <br />
“You could not have convinced me that I would ever have done this or continued with this,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a cure. I will say it’s an effective method of controlling pain.” <br />
Dr. Shmerling said that though tai chi is inexpensive compared with other treatments, some patients would reject such an alternative therapy. And Dr. Gloria Yeh, a Beth Israel Deaconess internist and co-author of the editorial, said others “will say, ‘It’s too slow, I can’t do that.’ ” <br />
But she said it offered a “gentler option” for patients deterred by other physical activities. “The mind-body connections set it apart from other exercises,” she said, adding that doctors are seeking “anything we can offer that will make patients say ‘I can really do this.’ ” <br />
<nyt_correction_bottom> <div class="articleCorrection"> </div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom> </nyt_update_bottom> </nyt_text> </div><!--cur: prev:--> <div class="columnGroup "> <div class="articleFooter"> <div class="articleMeta"> <div class="opposingFloatControl wrap"> <div class="element1"> <h6 class="metaFootnote">A version of this article appeared in print on August 19, 2010, on page A16 of the New York edition.</h6></div></div></div></div></div>Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-26117746198676106602010-02-06T13:08:00.002-05:002010-02-06T13:08:32.564-05:00Politics and Healthcare ReformInteresting article by Dr Mercola:<br />
<br />
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/06/interview-congressman-ron-paul-on-health-care-bill.aspxAngelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-13778478998859355212010-01-27T15:20:00.001-05:002010-01-27T15:20:02.470-05:00Our Greatest Fear, by Marianne Williamson<center> <h3><span style="font-size: small;">Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson</span></h3><h4><span style="font-size: small;">it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us</span></h4></center> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span><center> <span style="font-size: small;"> Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.</span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,<br />
talented and fabulous?<br />
<br />
Actually, who are you not to be?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">You are a child of God.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Your playing small does not serve the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> people won't feel insecure around you.<br />
<br />
We were born to make manifest the glory of<br />
God that is within us.<br />
<br />
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">And as we let our own light shine,<br />
we unconsciously give other people<br />
permission to do the same.<br />
<br />
As we are liberated from our own fear,<br />
Our presence automatically liberates others.<br />
<br />
—Marianne Williamson<br />
</span><br />
</center><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<br />
[Often said to have been quoted in a speech by Nelson Mandela. The source is <i>Return to Love</i> by Marianne Williamson, Harper Collins, 1992. —Peter McLaughlin]</span>Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-84566100752174378192009-10-20T17:56:00.000-04:002009-10-20T17:56:30.070-04:00SilenceWhat is the world coming to that teachers are straining their voices just to teach? To get their students' attention, they have to holler over the noise in the kids' heads. Kids nowadays are so overwhelmed with sensory input that things have to be louder, more urgent, more compelling for them to pay attention.<br />
<br />
And it's not just the kids, of course. I had a patient come in today with anxiety and insomnia: he finds he can't turn his mind off. When at work he's thinking about things that need to be done at home, when at home, work follows him. Even when there isn't as much to be busy with, he finds he is worrying about the next thing looming on the horizon.<br />
<br />
This sort of busy-ness is nothing new. And the solution is as old as can be. But it's contrary to our modern sensibilities: get QUIET!<br />
<br />
What fear we have of being silent! What dread we have of being alone with our thoughts! And what anger we have at not being busy - what, we have to wait for the checkout? red light? bank machine?<br />
<br />
Making friends with ourselves again, that's what being silent is about. Getting to know yourself all over again, getting to sitting and chatting with yourself, having yourself over to tea. Cutting out all the extraneous noise we call work, entertainment, fun... and getting into just being, just observing! When we quiet down to ourselves, we realize we can hear better. I heard someone put it that "Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is listening to His response."<br />
<br />
Meditation sounds like a big word, and a big challenge. It isn't anything difficult, unless we make it so. It is just about slowing down, stopping the merry-go-round and enjoying THIS moment, this situation, this sensation, this person in front of me, this beautiful sunny day.<br />
<br />
And when we listen deeply, then we know things. And we know we are loved, that we belong, that all is where it should be - for how could it be any other way? This whole game was set up for us to discover this for ourselves. If you don't yet believe it, you're playing the game well! Eventually you come to a dead end on that path, and you have to make other choices - only to discover there's always another trail that leads you back to love, belonging, and wellness. Let go the fight, because it's all good.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-2142514315070190222009-10-03T09:51:00.002-04:002009-10-03T10:03:18.112-04:00Health insuranceIt seems that not a lot of people I talk to know about HSAs. Health Savings Accounts. It's a federally recognized form of health insurance.<br /><br />The benefit: you put money aside every year for medical expenses, and unlike Flex Spend accounts, the money in the account can accumulate year after year. The money is pre-tax, and can grow tax-free. However, you can only put in a fixed amount annually - this year it was $3000. And the money is yours to use on whatever medical expenses you deem fit - and that is included on a list of covered medical expenses by the IRS. Also, if you don't use it all up, it can pass to your beneficiaries when you die.<br /><br />The catch: you have to have HDHP insurance: High-Deductible Health Plan. This is like a major medical insurance... only there aren't a lot of options in NY. I found only one company carried this kind of plan when I was looking - it covers hospital, and even some preventative (an annual gyn and physical exam, well-child care, and mammogram). The company is Emblem Health, a conglomeration of HIP and GHI. It seems though that since I locked that in, the availibility of the plan or the cost of it changed... I have a friend who looked into it and didn't find what I did.<br /><br />So I don't know what will happen to the insurance I have in place, but I figure now's the time to lock in something you want to keep, because with new legislation in the works it may or may not be an option in the future!<br /><br />Being pretty young (38), and being in good health, I don't plan on using much of the money in the near future, so I can let it accumulate, and one day it may cover my long-term health needs... Which is better than just paying an insurance company every month only to find that they won't cover alternative medicine, and they won't cover long-term health care, and they give you a hassle for every other supposedly covered services! Pay them every month and they spend it, or pay myself every month and I can keep it. Hmm, the choice seems too easy!Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-51455239124243077472009-09-05T12:22:00.002-04:002009-09-05T12:35:07.245-04:00Fatigue - depression or adrenal exhaustion?Chinese medicine honors how you feel - if you're tired, you probably need rest. How much rest? That depends on how much you've been "overspending" your resources. We highly value rest and relaxation - and we know that being busy and not sleeping enough adds up over time. Somehow in this modern American culture we think we can just keep going - or worse, that we must: "I'll rest when I die."<br /><br />It isn't conducive to quality of life if we just keep running, and don't stop to assess where we are, where we've come from, where we're going... and how our actions affect others who we are close to. When we busy ourselves in only seeing the immediate urgency and forget to look at the larger perspective, it's a lot like driving without any idea of what turn to take next. Besides getting lost, we're spending resources (time, energy, relationships, consciousness) going nowhere.<br /><br />Sometimes it takes a bigger crisis to make us stop and take stock. Often the crisis is one of health. The thing is, the crisis took a while building up, it just wasn't noticed until it got to be a problem. Sometimes it starts as just fatigue, difficulty getting out of bed. Depression seems to be the catch-all diagnosis, take some meds, feel "fine"! Well, that just hides the problem under the rug, until something else shows up... More meds? Or maybe it's time to take stock of how we got here, accept that we don't have unlimited resources, that our bodies aren't the invicible 20-year-old body we used to have, that seemed to take all sorts of abuse with minimal repercussions... And maybe it is ok to sleep 12 hours a day - even for 2 years!<br /><br />The Western medicine diagnosis is adrenal fatigue. Check out Dr Mercola's article on it:<br /><br />http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/05/Most-Common-Cause-of-Fatigue-that-is-Missed-or-Misdiagnosed-by-Doctors.aspxAngelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-74605057086733620042009-08-08T15:07:00.001-04:002009-08-08T15:08:36.016-04:00People Vote with their Dollars - Acupuncture Works!<p align="center"><img src="http://www.nccaom.org/news/images_news/natlhealthstatrep_lg.jpg" width="432" height="47" /></p> <p> </p> <p class="style6"><strong>New Study Reveals Number of Visits to Acupuncturists and Amount of Out-of-Pocket Spending Annually for Practitioner Visits and Self Care Such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong Up Significantly from Previous 2002 Study</strong></p> <p class="style6"> </p> <p>According to a new study from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics, in 2007, adults in the United States spent $33.9 billion out-of-pocket on visits to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners and purchases of CAM products, classes, and materials for self-care. Nearly one-third of this out-of-pocket spending was to pay for CAM practitioner costs (see figure below.) Further, according to this government survey, the number of visits to acupuncturists rose 32% between 2002 and 2007. Also, nearly 12% of the out-of-pocket money was specifically spent on yoga, Tai chi and Qi gong for self-care (see figure below). </p> <p> </p> <p>To read more about these significant findings on increase use of acupuncture, Tai chi, and Qi gong, please go to the link below, which provides access to the newly released National Health Statistics Reports (NHSR), (Number 18, July 30, 2009) as well as the earlier, NHSR (Number 12, December 10, 2008).</p> <p>Link to the press release: <a href="http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2009/073009.htm" target="_blank">http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2009/073009.htm</a> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.nccaom.org/news/pdfdocs_in_the_news/cam_outpocket_chart.pdf" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.nccaom.org/news/images_news/cam_outpocket_chart.jpg" border="1" width="465" height="357" /></a></p> <p> </p>Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-39700700669617369532009-05-12T13:43:00.002-04:002009-05-12T13:57:15.747-04:00Acupuncture beats Western med for low back pain<a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/026249.html">http://www.naturalnews.com/026249.html</a><br /><br />It's not enough to have a diagnosis... Give acupuncture a try, maybe that diagnosis is only a single-moment snapshot of where you are - it may not be permanent at all!<br /><br />This article is hardly news to me! I see it every day - low back pain, and other muscle aches, are really hard for Western medicine... Even arthritis is often correctible with acupuncture, some exercises, and maybe some daily self-massage! I have even treated torn meniscus and herniated discs and had good results.<br /><br />And people find all this "miraculous." I don't mind the enthusiasm one bit, but it strikes me that acupuncture and hands-on massage are very straightforward, no magic at all! The only reason it seems so wonderful is that Western medicine has left the hands-on so far behind that many folks who go to a doctor are never touched once... even those going in for surgery don't even get the basic "Does it hurt here or here?" examination. Instead they get a machine that takes a picture of a living changing organism - and the verdict is rendered by reading a machine's interpretation of the body!?!<br /><br />And then based on such a fuzzy picture, the doctor recommends three things - surgery, meds, physical therapy... and marginalizes the hands-on therapy to only the things he writes down on a pad of paper! How can someone who hasn't even touched you prescribe manual therapy to someone else who isn't legally allowed to stray from the doctor's orders?<br /><br />The way I work, I don't know in advance what I'm going to do. It's a combination of examining the patient, experience... and intuition! The results speak for themselves.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-67976739682068819302009-04-06T23:45:00.001-04:002009-04-06T23:46:20.438-04:00Great example of how to live!Hey all! Check out the 88-year-old mayor of a major city in Canada...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY79KbCptTo" target="l">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY79KbCptTo</a>Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-82081548257730569062008-07-15T07:30:00.003-04:002008-07-15T07:59:01.395-04:00How to be Happy<div id="ms__id22">It is a hallmark of being human that we constantly desire to be happy. And it is a common misconception that happiness is something that "just happens" - such as happiness just happens when I fulfill all my desires; or happiness just happens when I get my way.</div><br /><div id="ms__id23">The truth of the matter is that happiness is cultivated, encouraged to grow. There are several key nutrients that make happiness flourish.</div><div id="ms__id24"> </div><div id="ms__id25">First - letting go. </div><div id="ms__id28"> </div><div id="ms__id29">If we hang on to every little wrinkle of what is wrong or what didn't go right, we become overwhelmed with the impossibility of things actually going right. Letting go allows us to have the bigger goal in mind - where are we headed, why do we want to get there, who can help us, does anyone get hurt in the process. Hanging on to the details is like micro-managing. Letting go is leading with vision. </div><div id="ms__id26"> </div><div id="ms__id27">Second - use leverage not force.</div><div id="ms__id34"> </div><div id="ms__id35">If we want to be happy, we need to encourage others around us to be happy. There is a teaching story that illustrates, a kind of catch-more-flies-with-honey: The North Wind and the sun got into a competetive spirit and decided to find out who was better. The look around and see a man with a coat on. "First to get the man's coat off wins!" says the North Wind. "You're on!" replies the sun. So the North Wind blows, and blows on the man, to blow the coat right off! The man responds by pulling his coat tighter around him, struggling to get out of the wind as fast as possible. Again and again, gusts of wind rain down on him, and again and again he grits his teeth and pulls his coat tighter. "Bah! My turn!" says the Sun. With gentle benevolence, the Sun beams his light through the clouds... and slowly looking around him with joy, the man takes his jacket off, hangs it on his arms and whistles a happy tune.</div><div id="ms__id38"> </div><div id="ms__id39">Look around you at the effect you have on others. Do they grit their teeth and run from your presence as soon as possible? Or do they bask in the warmth of your presence, the gentleness of your asking? Experiment with different ways of "getting your way" and report back to me the difference!</div><div id="ms__id30"> </div><div id="ms__id31">Third - appreciate the 95%.</div><div id="ms__id43"> </div><div id="ms__id40">The key word here is to appreciate. The mind is a problem-solving machine - that is it's main function. If we only listing to the mind, then we go about living as if everything is a problem. Well, the same problems can be seen as challenges, or better yet, as adventures! Learning anything new is an adventure into territory never encountered before - or else you wouldn't be learning anything!</div><div id="ms__id42"> </div><div id="ms__id41">But more than a set of problems, life is also love, and intimacy, and the joy of receiving help and the joy of being useful. These things actually comprise the 95% of life that we miss when we only focus on the problem at hand. </div><div id="ms__id47"> </div><div id="ms__id44">Take time to smell the roses! Slow down. Don't let your fear drive you, let your joy guide you!</div><div id="ms__id46"> </div><div id="ms__id45">A Few Final Words</div><div id="ms__id32"> </div><div id="ms__id33">Keep working on these three things and you will see with time happiness automatically grows. It isn't a "just-won-the-lottery" sort of happiness - this is a deep-abiding, lasting satisfaction that gives meaning and joy to living. This is the heart of being alive. This is where spirituality starts, the place where the soul comes alive. Enjoy wtih your journey, and remember to smile!</div>Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-8707630239969744462007-12-19T15:04:00.000-05:002007-12-19T15:40:09.633-05:00Is slavery extinct, or just in a different form?I've been reading _The Lost German Slave Girl_. There is a part that describes the scene around a ship coming in with immigrants - it was a common exploitative practice to ship people across the ocean in return for indentured servitude on the other end. Read the book for a great look into the laws around slavery, but I am going off on a tangent here.<br /><br />The scene is described as bustling. All sorts of people are interested in buying the labor of another human being for a cheap price... at first that seemed so strange to me. Imagine a boat pulls up to a major harbor like Boston or Philly or NY and a sign goes up - "Get yer indentured servants here!" Who would show up?<br /><br />But we live in luxurious times - our indentured servants come in the form of oil-burning machines. The price we pay for raping the earth of resources instead of using human labor is only now starting to dawn on us... despite the fact that we have known most of this before we even started using oil... The slavery that oil represents is not as visible - the threat of rebellion and retaliation is not as immediate as within our own household.<br /><br />And it's all about more. And all that more is a one-way street - consume, with no return to the source, no return to the earth our mother. (Check out a great short called the Story of Stuff <a href="http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html" target="1">http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html</a> ).<br /><br />And it's all not new - humans have always wanted more, better, faster, harder, prettier, more fertile, more productive... We used to live simpler lives because we couldn't have more - given a chance to have more, we want more.<br /><br />The big difference is that now we are so able to take, we are taking more than the earth can give. Now to save our lives we have to take less, give more. Maybe it's also a way to save our souls... cuz we collectively have sold our souls for stuff, convenience of stuff, stuff to put stuff in, stuff that moves stuff, stuff that makes more stuff, stuff to eat, stuff to sit on, stuff to put on other stuff.............. We are drowning in landfill even as we want that new LCD TV with surround sound.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-63171424109254003542007-08-11T20:12:00.000-04:002007-08-11T20:31:26.283-04:00The Sage appears stupidThere is a teaching in the Tao Te Ching that says "the Sage appears stupid."<br /><br />On the surface, a wise person appears simple, attracts little public attention, worries little about what others think of his/her presentation. But sound the depth of his/her stillness and you find that he has resonances and overtones that the average person does not.<br /><br />Cheng Man-Ching, taichi master, described a teacher like a bell: hit it with a small pebble and you get a small sound; hit it with a log and you get a big sound. If you don't even hit the bell, you may not even know the profundity you miss: thus the sage who appears stupid.<br /><br />How to discern those with true wisdom from those who simply affect lightness of being? Listen deeply for the other's listening. Feel for their stillness of mind. For it is listening and receptivity which sound a teacher's bell. Everyone is a teacher if we are willing to learn; it just happens some bells are more resonant and helpful to us than others!<br /><br />We cultivate a resonant bell by investing time and energy in our own stillness of mind. In the silence between thoughts comes knowledge - knowledge is an awakening rather than a learning. In an awake state we see more clearly and have more insight, intuition and information. With these tools we see farther into the horizon, make better choices, define clearer boundaries, organize thoughts better, become more stable in the face of strong emotion or stress. We have our own answers within: we simply need to know how to seek them and live them.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-12096167561905943742007-08-04T11:10:00.000-04:002007-08-04T12:45:27.215-04:00Leadership in your lifeI have been reading John Carver on Board leadership and I realize that his message is easily transferrable to the individual.<br /><br />The difference between leadership and management is that leadership creates the vision of what is to be, and determines general principles of how to get there and how not to get there. Management (staff) react to that vision by translating the vision into reality, managing the details of functioning in the world.<br /><br />Most Boards don't spend a lot of time on their vision and end up doing staff work.<br /><br />But it turns out that most people also don't create a vision and purpose for their lives and end up reacting to the twists and turns of fate rather than riding them. Basically getting caught up in each tree as an obstacle or a goal and losing sight of the forest and the lay of the land. Forgetting what you really want by getting lost in daily busy-ness.<br /><br />Carver talks about creating a statement that answers "What is reason for this Board/organization's existence?" This question is broken down into three parts: 1. for what benefit to the world is the organization created, 2. who is the intended beneficiary (who do we serve), and 3. what cost is involved (money, but really all resources).<br /><br />When translated to the individual, the big question is "Who am I?" Seems like a difficult question that many have grappled with. But let's get practical: 1. what do I do that is of benefit to the world?, 2. who benefits from what I do, who I am? and 3. what does it cost to maintain me - money, other people's love and affection, living space, etc.<br /><br />What is my usefulness. I think answering that question is a very empowering and powerful exercise. Can I work on maximizing my positive impact on the world, leave everywhere and everyone better than where I found them? Can I do more meaningful and useful work? Can I be more loving and available to others?<br /><br />What is my impact on my environment and on others. This is a realistic question: am I needy and a drag on those around me? Do I require a lot to live happily? Do I need a lot of space to live? Can I minimize the negative impact on the world, take less resources to be happy and satisfied?<br /><br />It turns out that happiness lies in giving more than you take... and true leadership is about taking charge of your own happiness.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-28704903225918749352007-06-16T13:11:00.001-04:002007-06-16T13:26:41.925-04:00Not too much, not too littleThere's a taichi concept that the stance should be big enough to be supportive, but small enough to be stable. You want to take steps that claim enough space to move freely, yet not so big that you have to reach beyond your balance point to claim. Arm movements should be big and full to experience momentum and gravity, yet not so big as to pull you off balance.<br /><br />This teaching applies to life in general... as most taichi lessons seem to do.<br /><br />I was at Stew Leonard's the other day and spent so much there that I was eligible for 2 free ice cream cones! There's a dilemma. I live alone, I was shopping for a nice dinner I was going to make a friend... what could I possibly do with 2 ice cream cones? I can barely finish one! So I ordered one... fully prepared for them to tell me I had to get my two cones at once... But no, they honor their word, they wrote on my receipt that I had another cone left. Very satisfying little place inside that decides to just take enough and not more.<br /><br />I also am part of a CSA - community supported agriculture. You buy a share of a farm's harvest in advance, and when it comes in you pick up your share from a central delivery location. A great way to buy food farm fresh and organic, this one happens to be biodynamic also. Well, living alone it is a lot of food: last year I shared it with my brother. Well, I thought a lot about whether or not to participate this year: so much food, what to do with more and more food accumulating in the fridge! Well, it dawned on me that though I can't take more food than my share, I can take less! Whatever doesn't get claimed from the week's harvest is donated to a soup kitchen. If I take less than my full share, I will have the right amount of food and the rest will not be wasted. Seems like an obvious solution - but all those little voices inside that say, "I paid for it, it's all mine!" chime in with all those feelings of entitlement, accumulation, inadequacy.<br /><br />It's easy enough to dismiss the choice as trivial - but you know, if we all just took only what we need and no more, if we all participated a little bit more with our own energy rather than just take, if we all give a little more and consume a little less... it all starts with little ol' me making little ol' decisions. Little decisions add up to make the difference.<br /><br />I take the stairs now whenever I can. So I get some exercise: but I save a little electricity. One tiny drop less oil being used on my account - what's the big deal? Well, I just feel like I am doing some little good, and getting fitter in the process. And this way I also don't need to go to a a gym to get on an oil-driven machine to make me fitter!<br /><br />What's the harm in trying to make a difference?Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-39785449449629695222007-06-03T21:52:00.000-04:002007-06-03T22:14:58.442-04:00Who to believe?I was looking for a nice relaxing nature documentary to watch... "Coral Reef Adventure" sounds so beautiful, no? Well, I put it on and first thing it starts out with is how the coral reefs are endangered... and this was going to be a little exploration in why they are dying in certain places...<br /><br />I was a little unprepared, I have to admit, and though had it on, couldn't watch too carefully... I will have to get back to it again when I am more able to digest the information.<br /><br />Turns out there are a lot of factors. Sea temperatures around coral rising as little as 2 degrees will cause the photosynthesizing algae to leave the coral, leaving the coral bereft of energy to grow... which does seem to be happening as a part of global warming. In addition there are problems of overharvesting the coral and its inhabitants... And a problem with silt from large scale logging operations both clogging the waters and clouding the sunlight... I never knew about the point of view of the coral reefs, but I certainly knew about the environmental problems that exist. It still catches in my throat every time I discover the scale of the problems - which we have known about for decades and still haven't solved.<br /><br />Contrast that with my dad's sunny opinions: and my dad is a scientist and worked for the UN Environment Program. He figures we will have another 50-60 years of oil, and within 20 years we will be using extensive alternative energies... Maybe he watches too much Chinese cable TV, with their cheery propaganda? Or could it really be that our crisis will be more of a transition?<br /><br />Well, as was pointed out in "A Crude Awakening," "Stone Age man didn't leave the Stone Age because he ran out of stones. Mankind didn't leave off using horses because he ran out of hay." In other words in no other period of human society have we ever depended so heavily and dramatically on as finite and polluting energy source and building material as oil.<br /><br />Whoever you believe about the time and scale of the changes to come, they shall be dramatic, and within our lifetimes - how could it be otherwise? So snap in your seatbelts and take the ride.<br /><br />We shall all be in this together, all colors of human shall ride this wave together, whether we can all get along or not, whether we can all agree or not... and maybe that is the meaning of the whole adventure in the first place: that we realize our differences are much less than our similarities, that our conflicts are less important than our harmonies. "I'd like to teach the world to sing!"Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-66983949407805751012007-05-20T23:04:00.000-04:002007-05-20T23:25:49.441-04:00Art or Craft?What defines art? Is it something beautiful made by hand? Or is it more than that?<br /><br />I tend to think of art as a form of authentic self-expression. Anything less than that is a craft.<br /><br />Taking oil to canvas and copying a photo is a skill that I don't have. Much as I admire this skill, this is a craft. Creating the scene from "nothing" is art.<br /><br />Art doesn't come from nothing. I saw a quote on a furniture store: "we are the sum total of what we have seen." I think we are the sum total of what we hold important. Translating what we hold dear into our lives is an act of art. Copying what we see into another form without passing through our heart is craft...<br /><br />By this definition our lives can be works of art: live from your heart, express meaning in your life, live as yourself and not as a carbon copy of what you see. This is the only freedom that has meaning. And it is the only freedom that cannot be taken from you.<br /><br />Our minds seek to understand, and in doing so, we name things: this is a safe person to be with, this is a trusted health practitioner, this is acceptable behavior for this person. If we limit our behavior to what is acceptable to others we get trapped into a box too small for our soul to live. So I am an acupuncturist, taichi teacher... one who must be responsible in my professional life. But I am also a person, a child in an adult body, an adult in a young body, a girl living on her own for the first time in her life. I am full of exploration, play, safe risks...<br /><br />I invited some of my patients to come to my student improv night, our end-of-semester show to culminate my first semester learning the fun and art of improv comedy. No one showed up... that's not a problem for me... but one patient said to me, "I just couldn't come. I can't see you as my trusted healing professional cutting up on stage."<br /><br />His loss, I say. I had a blast that night!Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-85013506091855445412007-05-13T20:32:00.000-04:002007-05-13T21:20:41.624-04:00Ice is not the answerSay we sprain an ankle. Immediately after the sprain, we may not feel anything - no change. Then within 10 minutes a whole cascade reaction occurs: there is sudden swelling, pain, the range of motion is limited, the ankle cannot take full body weight.<br /><br />The Western approach is to numb the pain and chase away the swelling with ice, then maybe bind it. After several days, the pain is reduced... but the problem doesn't seem to go away: the ankle is still easy to reinjure. People are just told to expect they will have "weak ankles."<br /><br />This is not a solution.<br /><br />The swelling is purposeful: it accomplishes two main functions: to bring nutrients and resources to the injury, and to splint the joint, protecting it from being able to move and therefore exacerbate the original injury. Trusting that the swelling has a purpose, the trick is to accomplish what it was trying to do so as to avoid the need to swell up.<br /><br />An acupuncturist will want to increase circulation to the injured area, not reduce it. In mobilizing the joint as much as possible, there may be pain during treatment, but afterwards there is often dramatic reduction in both pain and swelling...<br /><br />And the process gives the body and mind a chance to understand the injury. Consciously being careful about use of the joint reduces further injury, reducing the body's need to splint with fluid accumulation... I had a sprain about 7 years ago. I treated with massage and acupuncture. It hardly swelled up, while giving me little pain. I found that if I was careful about good alignment it was hardly a hindrance to me. And I have not since re-sprained the ankle.<br /><br />The intention is solve the problem, not merely mask symptoms.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-77130596863827586952007-05-12T21:45:00.000-04:002007-05-12T22:13:00.265-04:00Learn to LearnSometimes less is more.<br /><br />You know how when you are trying to learn something, you try too hard? The effort and concentration, and above all the fear of messing up, all seem to make the whole activity difficult. But when you have done that thing enough times, it seems so easy... We all have such experiences: remember first learning how to drive?<br /><br />What is it about repetition that makes an activity come easier? Well, we let go of the fear when we have done it many times. We let go of the self-judgment when we know we have done this thing just fine. And eventually our body-mind develops a habit of this activity and we don't even have to think about it any more.<br /><br />So what if we could actually learn something new as if we already were experts? What if we could be so self-forgiven that we can just do the action with full confidence. What if making mistakes was not so scary, looking good not so all-important. And vice versa. What if we took an activity we thought we knew really well and studied it? What if you could study your own posture, the way you walk, as if you were learning it for the very first time. As a beginner practice as if you were an expert, as an expert, study as if you were a beginner.<br /><br />Life is ever-changing. And change requires adaptation - and learning. If we stop learning we stop growing and adapting to life... we get stuck, we get old. Old is not chronology, old is unadaptive. Old is not the quality of skin or the strength of muscles, old is weak in the mind and poor in aspiration. By this definition, the opposite of old is not young: the opposite of old is alive!<br /><br />Reach out to others and learn something from everyone you meet. Take a risk and try a new restaurant, a new food, a different kind of job, talk to people you've never said hi to before. Go away to somewhere exotic: or explore a new street in your neighborhood, actually sit in the park bench you pass every day. Take classes in things that a week ago you never would have dreamed of taking: or take the classes you have been waiting all your life to take! Risk learning something, and in the process you will learn about yourself.<br /><br />And what greater task in this world do we have than to find out who we really are? If we only knew that, all the world would be at our feet.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-19516782140420638812007-05-11T10:00:00.000-04:002007-05-11T10:41:17.813-04:00More play, less distractionSounds unusual, but I propose more playfulness!<br /><br />There is nothing I hold more important than awareness of "the problem" whatever the problem might be. I am a huge proponent of practical realism. Taking time to understand what is going on in my own life both in external circumstance and internal mental geography is my ongoing passion and lifelong quest. I practice and teach taichi in order to study myself, my tensions, my reactions to stress, and hopefully help others to do the same. I write morning pages every day. I take classes that challenge my thought patterns and habits. And I contemplate a great deal whenever I have time between patients and classes... Sounds so serious, doesn't it?<br /><br />Distraction and entertainment take us away from our problems. All sorts of activities can be used in this way: overwork, late-night parties, sex, video games, surfing the internet, overeating, a great deal of academic study... We can summarize by using the word addiction.<br /><br />We use these addictions to escape - to run away from what we perceive to be difficult. Maybe it is a situation we are running away from; ultimately we are running away from ourselves: our fears, our hurts, our disappointments and our pain.<br /><br />How can you find a solution to a problem without knowing what the problem is? Most of us don't even realize we have a problem to solve! If we don't solve the problem, it turns out that we end up in the same situation over and over again: maybe different people involved, maybe different circumstances: but the same emotion again, the same stuck place. If you don't know what I am talking about, wait another decade of life... you will see what I mean. Simply putting off solving the problem means that the problem doesn't go away, just revisits in other guises, or gets worse.<br /><br />Becoming aware of these places and accepting them is the first and most important step in transforming them. Trust that you are strong enough to face your fears, your hurts. Sit with the problem, or share it with someone wise that you trust.<br /><br />At first it will seem that you are not the right person for the job: the problem is too big or too scary. With some patience, you will learn how to unlock this scary place, defuse its power over you. And in that moment, you are empowered to be creative.<br /><br />Creativity is your birthright. It is the godhead within. It is your partnership with the divine. You are amazingly creative, it is you that created the difficulties for yourself and it is you that can solve them.<br /><br />When creativity is unleashed in this way, it doesn't stop at solving problems! That's just a reactive role: no, now it takes on an active role! You find that you start manifesting your deepest aspirations, that you start to create the life you want, rather than wait for it to happen. You take the bull by the horns more and more fearlessly: indeed after a while the alternative of not grabbing the bull doesn't even present itself!<br /><br />And therein lies the playfulness.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3959548237369144373.post-61373988390431936522007-05-10T11:36:00.000-04:002007-05-10T17:56:16.485-04:00Oil crisis ahoy!I have been thinking a lot about the impending oil crisis, what with watching "A Crude Awakening", available through Netflix... highly recommend you watch it. You know, it's one thing to know the oil is running out and all, but another to realize the scale of use we have gotten into.<br /><br />Look around you: there isn't one item of furniture, clothing, equipment, food or toy that isn't transported, made from plastic, packaged in petrochemicals or powered by oil-sourced electricity.<br /><br />Fine, I used to say. So we'll just use alternative sources of energy, mine our landfills for plastic to recycle... we'll manage somehow!<br /><br />So it was very sobering to hear experts talk about the hugeness of the problem. A barrel of crude is the energy equivalent of 25,000 hours of human labor! That's the equivalent amount of energy output of 12 people laboring forty-hour weeks for a whole year! Paid $5/hour that's the monetary equivalent of $125,000 - which we pay $63 for wholesale. When the price of oil rises, this is the scale on which inflation might occur...<br /><br />Cuz when you think about it, a barrel of crude oil is like having access to slave labor - without the danger of a slave rebellion or intermarriage! Oil is doing all the labor that therefore humans don't have to - and our whole civilization and standard of living rests upon this foundation of cheap energy.<br /><br />All great civilizations were founded on slave labor - can you think of any empire that didn't conscript slaves? Pretty much all the massive construction projects were undertaken with either slave labor or convicts... much the same thing after all.<br /><br />So it's like every time we fill up our gas tank we are harnessing the work of 12 slaves, forcing them to do our bidding, making them haul us around in a big box going at 60 miles an hour... and we don't have to feed them, clothe them, put them up overnight. Just leave them outside in all kinds of weather, get pissed off if the price of gas goes up!<br /><br />Nothing's for free. This "slave labor" might not rebel outright, but it will dstroy our planet. Global warming is a fact, no matter what major media would like us to believe: who owns the major media anyway? They have vested interests in keeping us oil-dependent. Check out Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" if you haven't... pretty compelling. Hard to dismiss.<br /><br />Basically, the oil crisis centers around food: how are we going to acquire food in cities, how are we going to grow it without petrochemical fertilizers, how are we going to feed 6 billion people and counting. The global warming crisis centers around water: too much water in one place, too little in another, water where ice should be, storms more violent than they used to be. Right at this moment, it's a toss-up which will kill us first.<br /><br />It's time to make peace with change. And with suffering. And with death. It is going to be an interesting decade, no matter how optimistic the outlook. And it's time to learn to relax, because we are not going to be able to control any of the outcomes...<br /><br />It's time for more taichi practice.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15775040307185780560noreply@blogger.com1