"You never change things by fighting the existing reality; to change something you must build a new model that makes the old model obsolete."
Antibiotics were created and people could survive once deadly infections. Anesthesia and pain meds were created and pain could instantly be controlled. The old health care model became obsolete because who does not want to be instantly cured? So it is no surprise to me that society resists changing and does not want to think differently. We start to think that if a little piece of candy is good, more might even be better.
It does not surprise me that with more candy, antibiotics, pain killers, antidepressants, immunizations, GMO's, and so many environmentally toxic things that make life "easier"..... people are becoming sick. It doesn't surprise me that only when the sickness becomes bad enough, we begin to recognize a need to change the existing model.
An old Chinese proverb says it well, "When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.".
I see walls every time a patient tells me they cannot live without their antacids, pain killers, antidepressants, sodas... because who does not want to be instantly cured? I see walls when they tell me I don't understand. I understand that if we all think the same, nobody thinks very much. I understand I must think differently or there can be no change.
In a society of processed foods and instant fixes we all resist change. We do not want to believe our guts can break down and become leaky. We do not want to believe the pills that instantly take away our pain might be causing so many more problems. By the time we are willing to accept the current model of health care is obsolete we wonder how to build a windmill when we have never seen one.
Instead of antacids I support my gut with organic, unprocessed foods whenever possible, supplements, and alternative therapies like NAET, acupuncture, chiropractic and would even resort to a fecal transplant before turning to antacids. Instead of antibiotics I continually work at keeping my immune system strong by keeping my gut strong, trying to avoid sugar, regular sleep patterns, regular exercise, social and spiritual growth. By doing all these things and more I believe my system will not break down to the point where I will need antidepressants and pain killers, but if necessary for my survival I know they are available. If I want our model of health care to change, I must become the change I want to see.
My windmill is probably more like a pinwheel, but we all have to start somewhere. Just maybe for one person I can be that person who changed everything.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Friday, September 14, 2012
Healing from the Inside Out
Growing up I don't recall my parents ever raising their voices in anger towards me or each other, not even when I totalled three cars within three months while learning to drive. So on the rare occasion someone does yell or become angry with me it is very upsetting to me. It is difficult for me to cope with anger directed towards me from anyone. When this happens, I remind myself that I am not the cause of their anger.
Since anger and difficulty coping are caused by the way we choose to react, I know it is also possible to choose to react differently. When others lash out at me, their problem is not with me, it is with themselves, just as my difficulty coping is not because of them but the way I have chosen to respond. Sometimes it is simply a misunderstanding or miscommunication of a situation. Sometimes the source of their anger runs much deeper than that. I remind myself that anger and other negative behaviors stem from people not realizing their own true greatness. I remind myself how difficult it is even for me to open my heart and show concern for someone as they yell at me. But when I allow my own greatness to shine, it is easier to cope. When I allow my own greatness to shine, it becomes more difficult for people to stay angry at me because they know I can see that they are great as well.
When I release all concern about how others feel about me and focus only on how I feel about them, I will understand who I really am and discover where true healing really begins. It is easy to focus on my own anger wondering how a person (usually with financial means greater than my own) could yell at me because they are responsible to pay for services rendered to them. It is harder to look beyond how they feel about me, and recognize how I feel about them. It is impossible for me to recognize the greatness of others if I judge them to be less than great. It is impossible for me to allow my own greatness to shine if I do not recognize that all people have greatness within them.
Recognizing my own greatness, and that all peoples are born great is the first step to healing from the inside out. Chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, good nutrition and supplements are just a few ways I enhance my health and ability to heal from the outside in. But I believe that to truly heal we must do so from the inside out. I read stories about people who heal from incurable diseases like multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease and many more. People who recover often refer to a variety of outside in changes, but the common thread seems to be the inside out description of their recovery as a process of changing who they are which allows their own greatness to shine. Sometimes even when we do allow our own greatness to shine we may not recover because our worldly bodies have limitations. God does not make mistakes, every disease and every person has a purpose. Healing from the inside out happens when I allow my own greatness to shine and simply be.
Note: this is a hypothetical argument not based on any specific person or incident.
Since anger and difficulty coping are caused by the way we choose to react, I know it is also possible to choose to react differently. When others lash out at me, their problem is not with me, it is with themselves, just as my difficulty coping is not because of them but the way I have chosen to respond. Sometimes it is simply a misunderstanding or miscommunication of a situation. Sometimes the source of their anger runs much deeper than that. I remind myself that anger and other negative behaviors stem from people not realizing their own true greatness. I remind myself how difficult it is even for me to open my heart and show concern for someone as they yell at me. But when I allow my own greatness to shine, it is easier to cope. When I allow my own greatness to shine, it becomes more difficult for people to stay angry at me because they know I can see that they are great as well.
When I release all concern about how others feel about me and focus only on how I feel about them, I will understand who I really am and discover where true healing really begins. It is easy to focus on my own anger wondering how a person (usually with financial means greater than my own) could yell at me because they are responsible to pay for services rendered to them. It is harder to look beyond how they feel about me, and recognize how I feel about them. It is impossible for me to recognize the greatness of others if I judge them to be less than great. It is impossible for me to allow my own greatness to shine if I do not recognize that all people have greatness within them.
Recognizing my own greatness, and that all peoples are born great is the first step to healing from the inside out. Chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, good nutrition and supplements are just a few ways I enhance my health and ability to heal from the outside in. But I believe that to truly heal we must do so from the inside out. I read stories about people who heal from incurable diseases like multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease and many more. People who recover often refer to a variety of outside in changes, but the common thread seems to be the inside out description of their recovery as a process of changing who they are which allows their own greatness to shine. Sometimes even when we do allow our own greatness to shine we may not recover because our worldly bodies have limitations. God does not make mistakes, every disease and every person has a purpose. Healing from the inside out happens when I allow my own greatness to shine and simply be.
Note: this is a hypothetical argument not based on any specific person or incident.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
I Used to Think People Like Me Were Crazy
"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death"
- Ann Frank
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would eliminate questionable food chemicals from our foods and environment first. It is well documented that many of the chemicals like aspartame, hydrogenated fats, dyes, MSG, and many more cause confusion, misery, and death. Instead President Obama hand picked a former CEO of a company responsible for many of these food additives as his czar and head of FDA.
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would allow us to know what we were being exposed to. Instead, many of the additives in our cosmetics like metals and hormones are not disclosed to us. Instead, when 93% of Americans polled feel GMO foods should be labeled, only 35% of US Senators voted in favor of allowing states to require GMO labeling. Instead, immunizations can contain an undisclosed amount of microbioagents, and although mercury has been removed from some immunizations because over the overwhelming evidence it may cause confusion, misery and death in children - most people are unaware that the government only requires mercury to be removed from the immunizations that are mandatory for children (flu vaccines, and some others are not mandatory). Mercury is used because it is a cheaper preservative, and if you do suffer from any type of adverse reaction to any immunization, the government says you are not allowed to sue or hold accountable the drug company for any negligence.
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would decrease the use of amount of drugs being used. Instead, the ban for prescription drug advertising was lifted in 1994 and we have seen a gradual increase in prescription use of all types ever since. Instead, if a doctor were to tell a patient not to take their cholesterol drug (without suggesting another) because their pain and misery may be caused by taking that particular medication - that doctor could be sued for malpractice. Did you know the "normal" lab values for LDL's have dropped to encourage doctors to put more patients on cholesterol drugs?
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would tout the benefits of organic foods. Instead, President Obama's effort to end world hunger included introducing GMO foods to African countries. Yes, these crops may have a higher yield but the GMO seeds will not reseed, so although the starving peoples may no longer be dependent on our food rations, they now become dependent upon a company to give them seeds. Do you remember when you could grow potatoes in a cup? or watermelons from their seeds? Do you think our farmers struggle because the need for food has decreased?
Indeed, my ideals seem absurd and impossible to carry out. Every day I witness in my patients the confusion, misery, and even death that results from a system I do not want to be a part of. My health choices and lifestyle are not consistent with those of most Americans, but I will be forced to pay for and become a part of a system I do not believe in if Obama's health care reform takes effect. Maybe your beliefs are different than mine, but I always thought America was about having the freedom to make our own choices.
"First they came for the Communist,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up"
-Rev. Martin Niemoller
- Ann Frank
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would eliminate questionable food chemicals from our foods and environment first. It is well documented that many of the chemicals like aspartame, hydrogenated fats, dyes, MSG, and many more cause confusion, misery, and death. Instead President Obama hand picked a former CEO of a company responsible for many of these food additives as his czar and head of FDA.
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would allow us to know what we were being exposed to. Instead, many of the additives in our cosmetics like metals and hormones are not disclosed to us. Instead, when 93% of Americans polled feel GMO foods should be labeled, only 35% of US Senators voted in favor of allowing states to require GMO labeling. Instead, immunizations can contain an undisclosed amount of microbioagents, and although mercury has been removed from some immunizations because over the overwhelming evidence it may cause confusion, misery and death in children - most people are unaware that the government only requires mercury to be removed from the immunizations that are mandatory for children (flu vaccines, and some others are not mandatory). Mercury is used because it is a cheaper preservative, and if you do suffer from any type of adverse reaction to any immunization, the government says you are not allowed to sue or hold accountable the drug company for any negligence.
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would decrease the use of amount of drugs being used. Instead, the ban for prescription drug advertising was lifted in 1994 and we have seen a gradual increase in prescription use of all types ever since. Instead, if a doctor were to tell a patient not to take their cholesterol drug (without suggesting another) because their pain and misery may be caused by taking that particular medication - that doctor could be sued for malpractice. Did you know the "normal" lab values for LDL's have dropped to encourage doctors to put more patients on cholesterol drugs?
I believe that if the American government truly wanted health care reform they would tout the benefits of organic foods. Instead, President Obama's effort to end world hunger included introducing GMO foods to African countries. Yes, these crops may have a higher yield but the GMO seeds will not reseed, so although the starving peoples may no longer be dependent on our food rations, they now become dependent upon a company to give them seeds. Do you remember when you could grow potatoes in a cup? or watermelons from their seeds? Do you think our farmers struggle because the need for food has decreased?
Indeed, my ideals seem absurd and impossible to carry out. Every day I witness in my patients the confusion, misery, and even death that results from a system I do not want to be a part of. My health choices and lifestyle are not consistent with those of most Americans, but I will be forced to pay for and become a part of a system I do not believe in if Obama's health care reform takes effect. Maybe your beliefs are different than mine, but I always thought America was about having the freedom to make our own choices.
"First they came for the Communist,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up"
-Rev. Martin Niemoller
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Changing Health Care
If normal is merely the average of all the abnormals, then I am definitely on the abnormal side of the social spectrum. I don't watch television, tweet, eat fast food or flour, and repeatedly admit to being clueless when it comes to mainstream behavior. However I do fall victim to the occasional computer video games where I sometimes discover things I never knew about mainstream thinking. One such time was a while playing "family feud" I discovered 70% of people would go to the store to buy medicine for a cold and 0% would buy vitamins.
It is my belief that if we want to improve our health; cure cancer and other devastating diseases with ever increasing incidences, we need to change the way we think. Antibiotics, steroid allergy medicine, antacids, immunizations, and medications of all kinds can be lifesaving, life enhancing and necessary means to survive. BUT ALL medication is intended to chemically alter your body's normal biochemistry. Many medications are sold as treatments for things only because it was discovered during testing of the drug that it had that particular "side effect".... in other words the pharmaceutical companies have no idea how these medications will alter your body chemistry, they have no idea what they will do to you.
Most people find it shocking that my fifteen year old daughter has never taken a course of antibiotics. I find it shocking that people find this shocking. Why would you choose to chemically alter your biochemistry with a medication if your body is able to fight off the disease itself? The first step to changing our mindset is to realize that our body has the ability to heal itself.
Once you change your biochemistry with food additives, genetic modification, drugs (prescription or street), or any number of ways - most people's health will continue to deteriorate - read my blog on antacids which details out how one simple over the counter drug can lead to a cascade of problems. It is essential to ask yourself, is taking this medication essential to my immediate survival or worth the probability of gradually deteriorating health? There are many instances where the answer will be yes. However the second step to changing our mindset is to stop taking medication as the first response and allow our body time to heal.
There is an old quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". So if you want to decrease pain, decrease heart risk, decrease blood sugar, decrease cancer risk you cannot expect to continue with the same lifestyle or make minimal changes and see any significant change in your health. Do you consume at least 17 fruits/veggies a day? Do you exercise at least 4 times a week? Do you minimize your exposure to food additives and other chemicals? What do you do to improve emotional and spiritual well being? If we want to change our mindset, we need to take responsibility for our own health.
Every time we choose a flu vaccine, Tylenol, or any medication we depend on pharmaceutical companies and not our own body's ability to heal. We biochemically alter our body by doing so, which eventually results in the need to biochemically alter our body more just to survive of "feel normal". Do you notice how many new drug stores keep popping up? I see more and more, younger and younger people taking medication than ever before. Many people are using antidepressants for thyroid or other unrelated problems. Studies have shown herbal remedies to be more effective than antidepressants for treatment of depression. Herbal remedies are less likely to adversely alter our biochemistry, and more likely to enhance our body's innate ability to heal. Do you think it is by accident that insurances will pay for prescription medications but not herbal remedies? Our current system is designed to sell drugs that can be pattened by select groups. Studies show people over the age of 80 will increase their risk of death on cholesterol lowering drugs but I see it being prescribed to them all the time. (A statistic most doctors don't know because they take continuing education sponsored by the same drug companies manufacturing these medications)
If we truly want to see our health as a nation improve we will not continue to use drugs as our first choice; we will not continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a differnet result. We will research all options available to us and read the plethora of new research unrelated to drug therapy. We will seek out alternatives. We will educate ourselves with more than the mass media information put out by these same pharmaceutical companies. We cannot expect our government to make the changes necessary when we ourselves do not. We can expect that government health care will perpetuate the current trend of increasing perscription drug use, increasing genetic modification and food additives, and decreasing payment and therefore quality of your medical doctors. If we are unwilling to change why would our government?
In my world I enhance my immune system instead of taking a flu shot or medication. In my world, I make health choices based on what is best for me not for for fear of getting cancer, pain, or heart diesease. I believe that no matter what ails me, it is simply my body expressing a desire to change what I think, feel, ingest, and do. I hope one day I am a little less abnormal, not because I change what I think, but because the world around me starts to believe their body is capable of healing itself.
It is my belief that if we want to improve our health; cure cancer and other devastating diseases with ever increasing incidences, we need to change the way we think. Antibiotics, steroid allergy medicine, antacids, immunizations, and medications of all kinds can be lifesaving, life enhancing and necessary means to survive. BUT ALL medication is intended to chemically alter your body's normal biochemistry. Many medications are sold as treatments for things only because it was discovered during testing of the drug that it had that particular "side effect".... in other words the pharmaceutical companies have no idea how these medications will alter your body chemistry, they have no idea what they will do to you.
Most people find it shocking that my fifteen year old daughter has never taken a course of antibiotics. I find it shocking that people find this shocking. Why would you choose to chemically alter your biochemistry with a medication if your body is able to fight off the disease itself? The first step to changing our mindset is to realize that our body has the ability to heal itself.
Once you change your biochemistry with food additives, genetic modification, drugs (prescription or street), or any number of ways - most people's health will continue to deteriorate - read my blog on antacids which details out how one simple over the counter drug can lead to a cascade of problems. It is essential to ask yourself, is taking this medication essential to my immediate survival or worth the probability of gradually deteriorating health? There are many instances where the answer will be yes. However the second step to changing our mindset is to stop taking medication as the first response and allow our body time to heal.
There is an old quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". So if you want to decrease pain, decrease heart risk, decrease blood sugar, decrease cancer risk you cannot expect to continue with the same lifestyle or make minimal changes and see any significant change in your health. Do you consume at least 17 fruits/veggies a day? Do you exercise at least 4 times a week? Do you minimize your exposure to food additives and other chemicals? What do you do to improve emotional and spiritual well being? If we want to change our mindset, we need to take responsibility for our own health.
Every time we choose a flu vaccine, Tylenol, or any medication we depend on pharmaceutical companies and not our own body's ability to heal. We biochemically alter our body by doing so, which eventually results in the need to biochemically alter our body more just to survive of "feel normal". Do you notice how many new drug stores keep popping up? I see more and more, younger and younger people taking medication than ever before. Many people are using antidepressants for thyroid or other unrelated problems. Studies have shown herbal remedies to be more effective than antidepressants for treatment of depression. Herbal remedies are less likely to adversely alter our biochemistry, and more likely to enhance our body's innate ability to heal. Do you think it is by accident that insurances will pay for prescription medications but not herbal remedies? Our current system is designed to sell drugs that can be pattened by select groups. Studies show people over the age of 80 will increase their risk of death on cholesterol lowering drugs but I see it being prescribed to them all the time. (A statistic most doctors don't know because they take continuing education sponsored by the same drug companies manufacturing these medications)
If we truly want to see our health as a nation improve we will not continue to use drugs as our first choice; we will not continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a differnet result. We will research all options available to us and read the plethora of new research unrelated to drug therapy. We will seek out alternatives. We will educate ourselves with more than the mass media information put out by these same pharmaceutical companies. We cannot expect our government to make the changes necessary when we ourselves do not. We can expect that government health care will perpetuate the current trend of increasing perscription drug use, increasing genetic modification and food additives, and decreasing payment and therefore quality of your medical doctors. If we are unwilling to change why would our government?
In my world I enhance my immune system instead of taking a flu shot or medication. In my world, I make health choices based on what is best for me not for for fear of getting cancer, pain, or heart diesease. I believe that no matter what ails me, it is simply my body expressing a desire to change what I think, feel, ingest, and do. I hope one day I am a little less abnormal, not because I change what I think, but because the world around me starts to believe their body is capable of healing itself.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Can Too Much Exercise be Bad?
If the title grabbed your attention because you are looking for an excuse not to exercise, this blog is not for you. If however it grabbed your attention because it seems like the harder you work out the worse your performance seems to be getting, I am writing this just for you.
Metabolic over-reaching is when despite regular exercise your performance is not improving. It is associated with fatigue, depression, increased infections, and muscle weakness. After resting 72 hours your performance will return; unless of course it goes undiagnosed and you continue to increase your work outs, at which point it develops into a condition known as metabolic over training syndrome where you do not recover your performance and progressively worsen.
It is well known that you need carbohydrates before a workout to feed your muscles. If you eat too many carbohydrates, your body makes cortisol to transport the cortisol into fat tissue to be stored for later use. If you do not consume enough carbohydrates before a workout, your body makes cortisol to transport the stored sugars to your muscles. Prolonged high cortisol levels is unhealthy.
Your adrenal gland 'steals' the hormone pregnenalone to make cortisol. If your body uses your pregnenalone to make cortisol there is not enough to make many other hormones Pregnenalone is used to make the hormone DHEA which can become testosterone in men and estrogen as well as progesterone in women. If any one hormone, like cortisol, remains high your all of your other hormones will become less and less balanced.
Prolonged high cortisol levels results in degeneration of the hippocampus due to altered function of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA). Altered function of the HPA can also be caused by increased interluken-6 (IL-6) associated with over training. A person who has just finished a marathon will have 120 times the normal IL-6 levels. Increased IL-6 levels is associated with fatigue, depression, increased infections, reduced ability to concentrate (in other words the same symptoms that are associated with metabolic over training syndrome). If IL-6 levels remain high, you will gradually continue to worsen.
Prevention and treatment for Metabolic Over training Syndrome.
*Rest for at least 6 hours between work outs
*Rest for at least 6 hours after any stress or infection has resolved before you return to a work out.
*Consume enough carbohydrates before you work out.
*Adequate hydration and minerals
Supplements: Adaptogenic adrenal support, glutathione enhancers or transdermal application with Oxycell, phosphatidylserine high dosages or transdermal with Adrenacalm, Gut support.
*Sometimes it is very important to treat conditions like anemia, altered immune function, food sensitivities, or toxicity issues as well or you will not see improvement.
*Work out in your aerobic heart range (180 - your age = peak aerobic heart range)
Metabolic over-reaching is when despite regular exercise your performance is not improving. It is associated with fatigue, depression, increased infections, and muscle weakness. After resting 72 hours your performance will return; unless of course it goes undiagnosed and you continue to increase your work outs, at which point it develops into a condition known as metabolic over training syndrome where you do not recover your performance and progressively worsen.
It is well known that you need carbohydrates before a workout to feed your muscles. If you eat too many carbohydrates, your body makes cortisol to transport the cortisol into fat tissue to be stored for later use. If you do not consume enough carbohydrates before a workout, your body makes cortisol to transport the stored sugars to your muscles. Prolonged high cortisol levels is unhealthy.
Your adrenal gland 'steals' the hormone pregnenalone to make cortisol. If your body uses your pregnenalone to make cortisol there is not enough to make many other hormones Pregnenalone is used to make the hormone DHEA which can become testosterone in men and estrogen as well as progesterone in women. If any one hormone, like cortisol, remains high your all of your other hormones will become less and less balanced.
Prolonged high cortisol levels results in degeneration of the hippocampus due to altered function of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA). Altered function of the HPA can also be caused by increased interluken-6 (IL-6) associated with over training. A person who has just finished a marathon will have 120 times the normal IL-6 levels. Increased IL-6 levels is associated with fatigue, depression, increased infections, reduced ability to concentrate (in other words the same symptoms that are associated with metabolic over training syndrome). If IL-6 levels remain high, you will gradually continue to worsen.
Prevention and treatment for Metabolic Over training Syndrome.
*Rest for at least 6 hours between work outs
*Rest for at least 6 hours after any stress or infection has resolved before you return to a work out.
*Consume enough carbohydrates before you work out.
*Adequate hydration and minerals
Supplements: Adaptogenic adrenal support, glutathione enhancers or transdermal application with Oxycell, phosphatidylserine high dosages or transdermal with Adrenacalm, Gut support.
*Sometimes it is very important to treat conditions like anemia, altered immune function, food sensitivities, or toxicity issues as well or you will not see improvement.
*Work out in your aerobic heart range (180 - your age = peak aerobic heart range)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Escape
"I need some distraction. Oh beautiful release. Memory seeps from my veins. Let me be empty and weightless and maybe I'll find some peace tonight."
When I was a child I discovered anything that emptied my mind and filled me with joy was my escape. It was lying with my sisters alongside the clubhouse pool warming my cold wet body against the hot cement and drawing cloud animals in the sky. It was climbing ladders into one cherry tree after the next with my aunt in search of the best cherries, and eating so many our bellies would cramp. It was the smell of anise cookies that filled my grandmother's house at Christmas. It was packing up the camper and heading out to explore the vast unknown world.....
Can you remember learning how to escape? We escape whatever it is we perceive as stress at that moment when our mind empties and our heart is filled with joy. Even God said the seventh day is for rest, or forty days in the desert for a deeper escape.
Stress is a significant risk factor for.... well just about every disease or health problem that exists. I could detail out specific mechanisms by which this occurs, but simply put stress is the one risk factor most people feel they have no control over.
Above I quote the song 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan where the distraction, the escape she describes is a drug. Because sometimes we forget how to escape or worse yet have never discovered how to escape.
When you take time for yourself long enough to discover your own escape, your stress decreases. When your stress decreases, your health improves. May we all journey in the direction of healthier lives so we can better serve God and each other.
When I was a child I discovered anything that emptied my mind and filled me with joy was my escape. It was lying with my sisters alongside the clubhouse pool warming my cold wet body against the hot cement and drawing cloud animals in the sky. It was climbing ladders into one cherry tree after the next with my aunt in search of the best cherries, and eating so many our bellies would cramp. It was the smell of anise cookies that filled my grandmother's house at Christmas. It was packing up the camper and heading out to explore the vast unknown world.....
Can you remember learning how to escape? We escape whatever it is we perceive as stress at that moment when our mind empties and our heart is filled with joy. Even God said the seventh day is for rest, or forty days in the desert for a deeper escape.
Stress is a significant risk factor for.... well just about every disease or health problem that exists. I could detail out specific mechanisms by which this occurs, but simply put stress is the one risk factor most people feel they have no control over.
Above I quote the song 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan where the distraction, the escape she describes is a drug. Because sometimes we forget how to escape or worse yet have never discovered how to escape.
When you take time for yourself long enough to discover your own escape, your stress decreases. When your stress decreases, your health improves. May we all journey in the direction of healthier lives so we can better serve God and each other.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Muscle Testing
My mom was always one of those people who just "knew". She "knew" which of my friends were good and which ones weren't. She "knew" when I was really sick and when I was just trying to get out of going to school, and worst of all she "knew" when I was selectively choosing my truths. Mom called it "intuition". I called it a completely illogical thought process, and like most teens aspired to be nothing like my mom.
So the first time a chiropractor used muscle testing on me as as diagnostic technique, and explained its effectiveness by telling me our bodies "intuitively" know what is good and bad for us - I rolled my eyes (just like I used to do for my mom) and asked for a little more "scientific" explanation. It didn't seem logical to me that holding a bottle of supplements or touching random points on my body would make me weak or strong simply because my body just "knew" what was best. In my world A + B = C, and I was going to figure out exactly what A and B were.
For years I studied and searched for logical explanations and research to explain exactly what caused our problems and exactly what would fix them. I believed only statistics based on solid research could prove something to be true. It didn't matter to me that when Koch and Pasteur founded the germ theory, a man drank a glass filled with "deadly vibrio cholerae bacterium" and never even got sick. Science had proven that specific pathogens cause specific diseases and I turned a deaf ear to the crazies like my mom and this chiropractor. It wasn't until after many years of practice that I started to realize that science was not capable of explaining exactly how our bodies function let alone heal. Eggs are good and then they are bad; one day a test is considered diagnositic and the next it is questionable; one day a drug is the cure and the next day people are dying from it - there is so much more to healing than simply science.
One patient after the next came to me claiming to be cured by prayer, by diet, by all sorts of things that had no logical or scientific explanation. It was easy to say these cures were merely "placebo", but regardless of what caused these patients to heal, the cures I saw were real. I started to wonder why all doctors know that "placebo" works but nobody could figure out why. We can no better explain why placebos work for some people than we can know all the unknowns (A's and B's). As Lipton explains in his book "Biology of Belief", our subconscious mind has a much greater influence on our health than our conscious and there is much to be learned in the field of quantum physics.
For years I refused to use muscle testing as a diagnostic tool, as even I thought it smelled a little bit like quackery. Today I use science to make my basic assessments, and will often use muscle testing to help guide me in the treatment of patients. There is an "intuitive" nature that helps me when doing muscle testing and for that I reluctantly thank my mom.
God chose my parents and every person who has touched my life especially for me. God controls the universe, knows all the A's and B's - not me. I was like a salmon swimming upstream until I figured out that there are some things that we just "know".
So the first time a chiropractor used muscle testing on me as as diagnostic technique, and explained its effectiveness by telling me our bodies "intuitively" know what is good and bad for us - I rolled my eyes (just like I used to do for my mom) and asked for a little more "scientific" explanation. It didn't seem logical to me that holding a bottle of supplements or touching random points on my body would make me weak or strong simply because my body just "knew" what was best. In my world A + B = C, and I was going to figure out exactly what A and B were.
For years I studied and searched for logical explanations and research to explain exactly what caused our problems and exactly what would fix them. I believed only statistics based on solid research could prove something to be true. It didn't matter to me that when Koch and Pasteur founded the germ theory, a man drank a glass filled with "deadly vibrio cholerae bacterium" and never even got sick. Science had proven that specific pathogens cause specific diseases and I turned a deaf ear to the crazies like my mom and this chiropractor. It wasn't until after many years of practice that I started to realize that science was not capable of explaining exactly how our bodies function let alone heal. Eggs are good and then they are bad; one day a test is considered diagnositic and the next it is questionable; one day a drug is the cure and the next day people are dying from it - there is so much more to healing than simply science.
One patient after the next came to me claiming to be cured by prayer, by diet, by all sorts of things that had no logical or scientific explanation. It was easy to say these cures were merely "placebo", but regardless of what caused these patients to heal, the cures I saw were real. I started to wonder why all doctors know that "placebo" works but nobody could figure out why. We can no better explain why placebos work for some people than we can know all the unknowns (A's and B's). As Lipton explains in his book "Biology of Belief", our subconscious mind has a much greater influence on our health than our conscious and there is much to be learned in the field of quantum physics.
For years I refused to use muscle testing as a diagnostic tool, as even I thought it smelled a little bit like quackery. Today I use science to make my basic assessments, and will often use muscle testing to help guide me in the treatment of patients. There is an "intuitive" nature that helps me when doing muscle testing and for that I reluctantly thank my mom.
God chose my parents and every person who has touched my life especially for me. God controls the universe, knows all the A's and B's - not me. I was like a salmon swimming upstream until I figured out that there are some things that we just "know".
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