The Oldest Language

photo credit:  Jorge Trigerros

“We suffer from misperceiving the world. We believe ourselves separated from each other and from all others by words and by thoughts.”—Derrick Jensen

Because of cultural indoctrination, it’s difficult to embody the concept of Oneness.  This idea we are related to everything and everyone, that how I behave to others and the environment actually impacts me (they are not acts outside of me) is a concept our heads might get (superficially?) but the rest of us has not integrated.  Despite Oneness being in most traditional healing milieu (Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine) and most religious doctrines, there is a fracture. Somehow, despite the idea of treating others as we would treat ourselves, embedded in the fabric of our social etiquette and laws, there is a maintained disconnect.

Two authors, Machaelle Small Wright and Derrik Jensen brilliantly illustrate in their different ways what it might mean to have a more whole relationship with the world at large.

Photo credit: Mie Sato

Jensen’s A Language Older Than Words, is erudite in his sometimes harrowing history of personal and world violence and the healing relationship of nature.  “There is a language older by far and deeper than words. It is the language of the earth, and it is the language of our bodies. It is the language of dreams, and of action.  It is the language of meaning, and of metaphor.….This language of symbol is the umbilical cord that binds us to the beginning, to whatever is the source of who we are, where we come from, and where we return.  To follow this language of metaphor is to trace words back to our bodies, back to the earth.”  I am reminded when reading his remarkable accounts of the relationship with chickens, wolves and stars how removed we are from nature, and respect for inter specie co-existence and rituals.  Through our bodies, in the experience of sacred dances for example, a deeper understanding of this relationship is possible. Practicing healing forms that respectfully include my own nature and all of nature is a large step in understanding this ancient language.

I found Machaelle Small Wright’s writings while on a childhood-dream-visit to the Findhorn Community (http://www.findhorn.org/) in Northern Scotland a few years ago. Wright’s Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered is particularly interesting as she has straddled both an ordinary upbringing in a conventional family and the extraordinary bringing herself up with the guidance found in relationship to nature.  She went on to develop and evolve Perelandra, (Perelandra Garden Workbook: A Complete Guide to Gardening with Nature Intelligences).  In relation to gardening she says: “We do not attempt to repel insects.  Instead, we focus on creating a balanced environment – nature defines the makeup, patterns and rhythms of this balanced environment—that attracts and fully supports a complete and appropriate population of insects. In turn, the insect relate to the gardens plant life in light and nondestructive manner. Each year is different and builds on the foundation laid the previous years.”  

Photo credit:  Mie Sato

“From this work has developed a new method of gardening that I call “co-creative gardening.”  This is a method of gardening in partnership with nature intelligences that emphasizes balance and teamwork.  The balance is a result of concentrating on the laws of nature and form from nature’s perspective.  The teamwork is established between the individual and the intelligent levels inherent in nature.  Both of these point out the difference between co-creative agriculture and traditional organic gardening or agricultural methods.”

I consider these two writers prophets of the time, seers connecting us to this elusive Oneness. The possibility of healing is dependant on our relationship to this organism we inhabit and a relationship to the natural world at large.

“There is a language older by far and deeper than words.  It is the language e of bodies, of body on body, wind on snow, rain on trees, wave on stone. It is the language of dream, gesture, symbol, memory.  We have forgotten this language.  We do not even remember that it exists.”  -- Derrick Jensen

The Creative

When I am completely myself, entirely alone...photo credit: World of Dance

"When I am ..... completely myself, entirely alone... or during the night when I cannot sleep, it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how these ideas come I know not nor can I force them.”  

--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

From different snippets of a news program, a magazine article and notes from a music program, the energy from what I call "the creative" has been infiltrating into my now. When synchronicity arrives, one does not turn away, but sits up, begins to open to, examine and follow.

As a culture, creativity defensively hides in a small box and is not well respected (if you can't make a lot of money by doing it, as a rule).  Somehow, it's all well and good for small children to explore art materials, but a few years down the pike, these explorations or most other "impractical" inquiries are subtly discouraged. Imagining, thinking outside the educational box, unrecognizable (by the majority) delving into unvalued areas are not seen as useful in a standard education. (Thank God for Montessori and Steiner.)

Like owning our physicality, the creative is our birthright.  All people are of spirit, all people are creative.  It is a general misconception that a creative idea has to be "artistic" oriented or even original.  Some say there is nothing original, that accessing the creative is borrowing and renewing (for self) of the old.  As a nurse, the creative is a resource I depend upon, especially when in relationship with patients or other staff.  I have seen when I am reactive, judgmental ("spirit sick") my choices are limited, and I am unavailable to the creative.  Relaxing into the moment, identifying the interesting aspect of the irritating-other (a separation of sorts) produces the possibility of relationship.  

A difficult, hostile dynamic between a married couple in a small hospital room where no one is listening, all my various (and thin) cajoling attempts are rebuffed and what is imminently required is locked out by what feels like an endless habitual polarization. I go back to the nurse station sense my agitation and take a few moments to breathe.  How can I approach them rightly, what do they need?  The creative arrives. A novel thought comes to me.  I am a bit unnerved by this notion, it counters my usual modus operandi. It feels edgy, but somehow right.  I breathe a few more times, feeling my feet under me.  I go back to the room to the deadlocked couple and begin to order them around with definitive assertion; I do a lot of arm flailing, throw my head every which way, appear fed up.  This they understand.  This they respond to.  Their previous sarcastic contempt of me is now replaced with respect and they begin to listen and do what is necessary.  Go figure. 

A terrified chiropractor is admitted for unexpected surgery. He is resistant to all care, all procedures, he refuses to cooperate with anyone on anything.  When I greet him at his bed, he is hunkered down, arms crossed, his face a wall of tension. Somehow, I recognize this state he is in and it actually inspires me to let go of my own tensions. I ask him about himself, his practice, what he needs now.  He asks me to do a right brain-left brain exercise with my arms and hands (validating his own knowledge and understanding of the relationship of the brain to the body).  We do it together and it is very cool, I can feel my brain connections switching sides.  Afterwards, he's good to go with all the tests he has refused thus far.  Getting met.


These stories could easily be paralleled by a bus driver dealing with unruly kids, Greenpeace canvassers on hostile territory, air traffic controllers on a holiday weekend.  We all have access to the creative and we are creatively relating a lot of the time.  It's a question on how to recognize it when it arrives (or is quietly dwelling). Is it the spontaneous wry comment defusing a room of tension?  A moment of "intuition" that deflects an accident? The organism is very pliant and the creative is ever ready.  

A relaxed state has a lot of faces:  Post a glass of wine, the time before sleep, the ill state (ego out of commission), the state of vacation, the chaotic state (so much static, creativity can sneak by), the purposeless ("lazy") state. I heard a radio interview wherein the musician/lyricist being interviewed was watching her girlfriend dye her hair.  What must have been a relaxing, pleasurable time, she wrote in her mind while watching her, the song which would be her next hit (nothing to do with dye-ing hair).  Or the guy snacking on a bag of chips on a subway car who witnesses a slap fest between a male and female rider, stands up (still snacking) and walks to the exit door of the subway car, stopping to stand between them, without saying a word, somehow diffusing their hostility. 

These are all examples of fertile ground for the creative to reveal itself.  Allowing something to rest long enough to receive something else.

Use: The Alexander Technique

Calligraphy Monk, Chinq e Ping Monastery, Huashan  Mountain

"Some people think this Technique is either what is loosely called 'bodywork' or posture   correction, but it's really about intentional thinking."        Patty De Llosa 

It once was suggested to me that the reason why time flies for adults and speeds up as we age is that the number of "new" impressions diminishes.  For the young, time is eternal probably because new discoveries are around every corner. As adults we've put ourselves on auto pilot, not noticing how we get out of bed in the morning to the body's specific preference in how we get in and out of our clothing.  And this is all lawful in a way.  Children are needing to acquire new skills continually; if they hung on to the interest of how to do something they've mastered, they probably would have a hard time making room for the new skill waiting to be known. I guess that makes us accomplishment machines.

Why be interested in how we do our basic, mundane operations?  Well, experientially, I see I slow down when I become intrigued with my kinesthetic responses on a crowded sidewalk; my awareness becomes more acute.  I am embodying more of myself.  My attention is fuller inside and outside of myself.

Why this is interesting at all and how it impacts health is because, as children we naturally had perfect postures, before social influence impacted us.  Our awareness and our use of our bodies impacts our health.  The influenced child sometimes turns into the adult with chronic back pain because of poor use.

The Alexander Technique is a body/mind modality that studies use; how to bring a fuller awareness to the way I am.

A fellow-Philadelphian colleague, Diane Young* (www.bodymindbalance.net) a decades-long Alexander teacher explains:  "The Alexander Technique is a hands-on learning method  that helps to literally undo old habitual ways of doing things, albeit unconsciously, by bringing awareness to what we are doing and then being able to respond differently.  Because we are so habituated, the mind is often far astream from the body, and not unified at all. We are “talking heads”.  We have a thought or a belief, and it creates an emotion or sensation which our bodies react to.  We have separated from the experience of being present within the body, and then our reactions lead to certain results.  We startle, tighten, compress and don’t even realize it!  The stressful stimulus has led to a disconnection from our integrated experience.  But did it have to be that way?  Did we have to react to the stimulus?  What if, like a child, we let the experience flow to us and through us without judgement, and then respond instead of react?  The stimulus would appear  as a NEW experience, which we would then have more than one possible response to, and perhaps would have a pleasant, embodied, and fresh experience instead.

As we begin to identify the disturbing stimuli, we also begin to notice how we react to what we perceive as stressful.  It was not the stimulus itself that was stressful, but instead our reaction to it.  Once we know that, then we can actively observe and make new decisions about how we are going to be with it.  A possibility for release can then take place.  A renewed and fresh response to what was a habit now brings us more into the moment, and more intimately back to ourselves. 

F.M. Alexander was one who observed the “use” of ourselves  (the manner and conditions of use of the body and mind together) very carefully.  He noticed that as we become more aware of how we are doing an activity, we have more choice as to how we can respond to it, whether with grace and poise, or with compression and tension.  He noticed that we can change how we are in relation to the stimulus.  He then knew that it is possible to let the reaction fall away, to ungrip from it.  We simply choose not to react in the habitual way!  The result is more freedom, more ease, a breath of release and awareness.  It leaves us with greater expansion and openness to receive the experiences of life in the moment, and to be more alert and alive to the mystery of our daily lives."

In Patty De Llosa's illuminating book, The Practice of Presence*, she illustrates so clearly what the Technique is and its benefits.  It is the "organizing factor [which] is at the heart of the connection between the head, which directs the action, and the body, which carries it out.  This relationship is called into presence at the moment I cease to 'know' exactly what's coming next and dare to fall back into the unknown, while at the same time maintaining a sense of mental curiosity and alert attention."  She goes on to say, the Alexander Technique is "a method of re-education of our neuro-muscular coordination through the power of directed thought."  It's an education in "how the body works (bio-mechanics) and how to direct our thought (bio-energetics), initiating changes in habits and patterns of tension that had probably interfered with both physical and psychological freedom most of our lives.  Yet the amazing thing is we [aren't] learning a new doing so much as undoing movement sequences we had learned automatically and badly. I sensed a return to the ease and freedom of movement I had had as a child."

So then, is the biggest difference between children and adults their use and their willingness (nay interest and excitement) to bring all of their attention to it?  Every time children use their hands, find their balance, do anything, it is new for them.  We adults have lost the intrigue and awareness of almost everything we do. I think this is because it is "old"; we've gone through the quick and successful motions of tying our shoes a trillion times, opened the refrigerator and fit the top on a pot at least that many times.  It's old.  But is it? As indicated above, maybe what is old is our automatic approach.

*Patty De Llosa has spent more than 40 years studying the practice of presence. She has taught workshops in the teachings of philosopher G.I.Gurdjieff, whom she met as a child, studied T'ai Chi with master T.T. Liang, worked intensively with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, and is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique.  She has led others in these traditions in Peru, Chile, Canada, and New York.  www.practiceofpresence.com

*Diane Young Sussman has been teaching the Alexander Technique for more than 25 years.  She has been a trainer of teachers at ACAT (The American Center for the Alexander Technique) since 1989.  Diane is also very happy to help people over 40 re-claim their ease and balance after spending too many years in less-than-ideal postures.  As a former dancer and choreographer, Diane is always looking for how to help her students regain the freedom of movement they once knew as children.  Also a CranioSacral Therapist, Diane has used the two modalities for a full list of health benefits for the client. (www.bodymindbalance.net)

 

Our Second Brain

Neurotransmitters are the amino acids (building blocks of protein), which transmit signals from one nerve to another in our brain (ie: serotonin).  The bulk of  neurotransmitters are produced in our guts and effect our (first?) brain.

Ever since I heard about the Chinese concept that our gut is our second brain, I've been enamored.  Enamored that what's above our neck might not be the "master of the universe", but what below our diaphragm might be co-mistress. Most of us spend a lifetime cultivating the upstairs in ourselves and trashing the basement, when really we should be cleaning out, protecting, maybe even building altars down there.

I've gotten a lot of requests to write on IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and other gut related maladies from reflux to leaky gut syndrome, gluten sensitivities to yeast conditions.  And there I was getting all geared up and this blog post by Paula Owens popped up, basically saying what I would say. So, I'm going to attach it here.  Don't mind all the slick, new/she-Jack LaLanne stuff on the right side of the post (everybody has to make a living?). Her information is solid and she's really very clear in laying it out. I also include a Scientific American post on this second brain's influence on serotonin and depression, and a pretty good and straight forward article on the enteric nervous system (physiology of this second brain).

Here's to building altars (of sorts).....

http://thepowerof4-paula.blogspot.com/2011/05/healthy-gut-healthy-person.html?goback=%2Egde_65780_member_106590695

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain

http://www.psyking.net/id36.htm

On Fire: the State of Chronic Inflammation

Napa Campfire images, photo credit:  Will Fraser

Inflammation is the miraculous response of the  body telling you something is wrong. Occurring after injury or sometimes in the normal course of living, inflammation brings on pain, discomfort, bloating, reflux and a myriad of other symptoms.  Most of the time we just live with it.  But the problem with living with inflammation is that we stop noting the onset and continuation of it, the degrees of discomfort it causes.  It goes from being an acute problem (short term) to a chronic condition.  When this happens, inflammation can be a killer.  Chronic inflammation is linked to heart disease, cancer and arthritis.

We live in inflamed times.  High levels of chronic stress, poor dietary choices ( see Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid), exposure to toxins (ie: foods that are laced with pesticide, second hand smoke, commercial grass/plant fertilizers, chlorinated pool or drinking water, vehicle emissions), spiritual alienation and/or strife (symptomology presents as irritability, lack of tolerance for the unknown, anxiety, attachment to control), electro-magnetic (technology) or radiation (unprotected sunlight) exposure are but a few ways low to high grade inflammation can become chronic.

One of the precursors to being systematically in an inflammed state is linked to the pH levels in our body. The more acidic our bodies, the greater chance of inflammation.  We want to lean toward a more alkaline pH.  Foods that promote alkaline pH are mentioned in the above food pyramid and here alkaline foods list. Generally, staying away from processed foods, red meat, most animal products, increasing non-starch vegetable intake and decreasing high-fructose foods (processed, sugar-based) helps to decrease acidic pH levels. An intact and robust immune system keeps inflammation in check.

Emotional states and an overloaded/balanced central nervous system effects the acid/alkaline levels in the body. Stress and general chronic negativity changes our body's pH to be more acidic. Avoid long term anger, misery, bitterness, resentment, and fear. Prayer, meditation, and the practice of forgiveness and gratitude supports our well being, impacting pH positively.

The challenge I see as a life/health coach in identifying inflammation problems is awareness.  People, as mentioned, put up with bloating, reflux, chronic runny noses, mucous in their stool, yeast conditions, chronic joint and muscle pain (all indicators of inflammation in the body) as a matter of routine if they notice it at all. Pain and inflammation are the body's cues it is time to take a different tact in one's lifestyle behaviors.

Following are some good resources regarding diet and natural approaches to pain and inflammation.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet - Dr. Weil

Make muscle pain a memory with ginger 20 Pain Cures You Can ... informative daily help