Photo: HowardLake

Have you ever wondered why there are so many causes, events, and fund-raising efforts going on for various diseases and disorders? Since I was a child, I have watched campaigns go on for these causes, and wondered why progress never seems to be made.

Even when I was younger and pretty unaware of health, I puzzled over these fund-raising events and wondered whether the efforts were doing anything to cure disease.

Increasing rates for conditions like obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are at the forefront of dialogue and efforts in health communities worldwide. According to the following sources, these conditions are either increasing or not improving:

* MedPage Today
* R&D Magazine
* American Heart Association
* American Diabetes Association

This New York Times article reports that cancer rates have been dropping since the 1990s from where they were in the 1970s, and the reason for the decline in diseases is attributed to prevention, early detection such as via mammograms and colonoscopies, and people abandoning poor lifestyle choices such as smoking. But do those activities really have a significant impact on health problems?

When we hear people talk about prevention, we don’t hear enough dedicated or serious discussions of how the food we eat or the products we use can affect our propensity to develop disease. Most of the topics center around eating lower-fat and lower-cholesterol foods, eating more vegetables and fruits, and more whole grains.

Very little of what people talk about in health communities takes into consideration the sources of our food, the quality of the food being eaten, and the fact that fats and cholesterol actually play a major role in the prevention of disease. And we certainly don’t hear much about how personal care, household, commercial, and other products might alter the ability of our bodies to ward off disease and illness.

Nutrient deficiencies and how it affects health

If what we eat and nutrient-depletion isn’t an issue as so many people claim (or, as it is often absent from conversations about health), consider the following information about Vitamins A, D, and K.

Photo: emrank

This recent article from AOL News reveals that sunscreen may actually be increasing cancer rates, rather than preventing them. This idea goes against conventional ideas about wearing sunscreen – something we’ve been told for decades is the most important defense against sunburns and skin damage that can lead to skin cancer.

The article focuses on the main suspect of the believed reason for increase in skin cancer – the products reviewed contain high levels of Vitamin A (used as an antioxidant). For years, doctors have warned patients about the risks of “overdosing” on various nutrients such as Vitamins A and D. And yet recently, we’ve been hearing media reports telling us that Vitamin D is vital to health. And it’s true. Vitamin D is critical to immune, bone, cardiovascular health.

Both Vitamin A and D are fat-soluble vitamins. That means in order for the body to properly absorb them, healthy animal fat must be present in the diet. Did you know that synthetic Vitamin D and naturally-occurring Vitamin D are not the same substance, and that when an individual takes too much synthetic Vitamin D, levels in the body can become toxic?

The same cannot be said about proper levels of naturally-occurring Vitamin D from the sun and from healthy foods such as fermented cod liver oil, dairy products, and meats and fats from healthy, grass-fed animals on pasture. The other critical component to health that is rarely mentioned is Vitamin K, which works synergistically with Vitamins A and D.

According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, “Vitamins A and D tell cells to make certain proteins; after the cellular enzymes make these proteins, they are activated by vitamin K. This synergy explains reports of toxicity from taking vitamins A, D or K in isolation. All three of these nutrients must come together in the diet or the body will develop deficiencies in the missing activators.”

According to the Vitamin D Council, the United States is experiencing a major deficiency in Vitamin D. If you are deficient in Magnesium, Vitamin D deficiencies can become acute. In our country, 57 percent of medical inpatients suffer from this deficiency, and 58 million American children are also deficient in this nutrient.

Modern diets don’t come close to including these important combinations of real nutrients that fight disease and illness. If we are so grossly deficient in these nutrients, just stop and think how many other nutrients we might be lacking in our diets and the real impact this has on health.

Why fundraising for disease doesn’t pay off

What exactly are the goals of organizations trying to raise money for disease prevention and research? Let’s take a look at some of the organizations putting their efforts toward “curing disease”:

Cancer

Insane things Race for the Cure inspires people to do
Photo: NatalieMaynor

Susan G. Komen Foundation. Their efforts are far-reaching and massive. In many major cities, you will see ads for “Race for the Cure”. There are calls for donations everywhere. And where does the money go? Money to put toward more research and drug development, and procedures that are supposed to cure cancer. How exactly is this accomplishing the goal of finding a cure? Surely, if we keep throwing money at this problem, someday a cure will be found and people will no longer have to suffer from cancer, right?

This year, Susan G. Komen formed a partnership with KFC to sell chicken in their Buckets for the Cure campaign, with part of the proceeds from the buckets going toward cancer research (a total of 50 cents per bucket to cancer research). The basic concept is quite laughable, but millions and millions of people are buying into this cause. Their goal? Raise 8.5 million from the sales of fried chicken.

What a brilliant public relations move this is for KFC, who sells industrial food to billions of people. No doubt, they will get a lot of credit for this from the mainstream media, medical and health authorities, and other influential entities. KFC will sell more chicken and everyone will “feel good” knowing they are supporting cancer research. So when you buy buckets of chicken from KFC, your hard-earned money is going towards supporting a corporation selling toxic food-like substances to the masses under the guiles of supporting health. It’s really quite ironic, isn’t it?

It’s not too surprising that KFC is involved in a scheme like this, they are first and foremost a corporation with a primary purpose to make money. But it’s quite another matter entirely that the Susan G. Komen Foundation has allowed their name to be used in conjunction with such an effort to sell crap food under the auspice of raising money to cure a fatal disease.

Diabetes

Diabetes has a similar movement with The American Diabetes Foundation at the helm, and you will see organizations and fund-raising events going on annually in many regions to raise money to combat this disease.

Their website provides many statistics and numbers of people who get the disease. But the web site has absolutely nothing about prevention of the disease other than to donate money for research, and provides a link to another page, Stop Diabetes, where you can add your name to a list of people who want to stop this disease. People are working night and day to maintain this website and generate names, and request donations to stop a disease that is essentially caused by poor eating habits.

And are cures being found? Just how much money do we have to donate, fund-raise, and collect to find a cure for these diseases? I propose that these organizations and fund-raising efforts are not doing the job they are intended to perform – that the money being generated from these causes goes to fund more research for drugs, procedures and surgery to combat these health issues. What evidence are we actually seeing that this is working? Do people who receive drugs and surgery for cancer, multiple sclerosis, Diabetes, and other chronic and terminal illnesses really receive benefit and recover?

The results from an inquiry by the Department of Radiation Oncology, Northern Sydney Cancer Centre, Australia, into the contribution of chemotherapy to 5-year survival in 22 major adult malignancies, revealed a shocking statistic:

The overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA.” [Royal North Shore Hospital Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 2005 Jun;17(4):294.]

Allergies and asthma

There are even organizations that raise money and awareness for asthma and allergies. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation has a web site with all types of resources and information on becoming an activist for these health issues.

Photo: nicasaurusrex

There is an entire page devoted to information about new laws, petitions, and the latest news in activism for these issues. Guess what you won’t find there – any information about how the industrial food system or substances in the environment might be contributing to these issues. No prevention, no proactive measures are mentioned. There is, however, plenty of information and discussion about “treatments” and “management” programs for asthma and allergies.

The World Allergy Organization has a long list of important doctors, scientists, and university professors leading the board of directors. There are also forums, conferences, and regular meetings going on to discuss the topics of allergies. Basically, a lot of money, effort, and scientific research going to find a “cure”, but no mention of the real cause. I guess somehow the people running this organization assume that people can continue eating toxic food and being exposed to toxins in the environment, and the day a miracle cure is found, the world will be “saved”.

Check in next week to read Raine’s solution for really dealing with these diseases.

Article reprinted with permission.

Finally, a way for women to “gain hold” in the fight against rape. South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers has developed a female condom with “teeth” on the inside that attach to a man’s penis during penetration. Here’s the process:

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon…once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it — a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest. “It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it’s on,” she said. “If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter… however, it doesn’t break the skin, and there’s no danger of fluid exposure.”

What do the critics have to say about it? It will “make women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.” It’s a “form of enslavement,” reminding women of their “vulnerability.”

Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Uganda says:

“It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma,” she added. “It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults.”

Yeah, ok, I can agree with that. I obviously believe that the basic acceptance of rape in many African countries (and really, all over the world) needs to be altered dramatically. But just because I want that to be so doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen any time soon. And while we continue to work to shift accepted norms that are barbaric, violent, and cause life-long psychological trauma, giving women another defensive strategy is not enslavement in my book. When it’s life or death, I say give women a way to tear into a penis the way it tore into her.

Critics who have accused Dr. Ehlers of developing a medieval device to fight rape? Umm, castration for committing rape may be medieval. A condom that sticks it to a dick is not.

So, they say living in the US is better than living in Nigeria…

Thanks to Kate Sedgwick for pointing this one out.

This video is totally worth watching all the way through:

Let us do what we were put on this Earth to do.

Feature photo: Amy Loves Yah

Would You? / Photo: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

Sex is a tough subject. Even though the ‘internet generation,’ of which I am born, has access to more information and is exposed to greater representation of sexual diversity, we’re still struggling to determine what is sexually appropriate and acceptable.

Most of us prefer to believe that we are sexually savvy, that we have some skills as a lover, and are more open to sexual dialogues and practices than our parents. We are the generation of Wikipedia and XTube – information and representation is readily available.

Yet how do ‘sex’ and ‘living holistically’ relate?

As I began to explore this question, a greater dilemma arose – what the frick does it actually mean to be living holistically? It seems like so much pressure! (tosses head back and sighs in exasperation). As defined by this blog, “Living Holistically means incorporating all aspects of ourselves – the mind, body, spirit, community and environment.” Okay, fair enough. However, the word ‘sexuality’ is absent from this definition. Where does sex fit in?

The more I began to ponder this proposition, the more I realized that, in fact, I really have no idea what it means to be living a sexually holistic life. Does it simply mean we’re diddling the skittle and buffing the rifle with sufficient frequency? Or that, post-coitus, we’re turning to wheatgrass shots instead of cigarettes?

Or perhaps, in stating that we are living sexually holistic lives, it gives legitimate excuse to practice yoga for the sole purpose of getting ourselves into all sorts of flexibility-required, crazy sexual positions? Okay, maybe I’m stretching things here. Pun intended.

Research Time

I clearly needed to do a little research on this matter, so like any half-assed blogger, I turned to Google to help me define a ‘sexually holistic’ lifestyle.

Photo: Assassin de la police

In my search, I stumbled across phrases such as “Dating Adult Alternative Lifestyle” and “Utilizing the holistic lifestyle for weight management” and even “Polyamory Society.” Ultimately these results fell short of what I was ideally searching.

It seems like there is insufficient discourse on the subject of holistic sexuality. I suppose we are charting new territory here.

So, for the sake of this exploration, I’ve come up with a working definition of ‘sexually holistic’ – living a sexually holistic life means incorporating all aspects of our sexual identity, such as belief, desire and fantasy, into practice. So if we are to label ourselves as ‘sexually holistic’ beings, we need to be aligning our sexual practices with our sexual values.

These days it is increasingly a social norm to value sexual diversity, and by “sexual diversity” I mean “not hatin’ on homos.” Despite levels of problematic tokenism, it is trendy to have a gay friend. Gays have never been more ‘in’ – but in valuing sexual diversity, how many of us are willing to take the next step towards practicing our values?

In other words, is a same-sex encounter important in living holistically?

The Raw Data

Before I get a wheelbarrow full of tweets accusing me of being ‘hetero-normative,’ I do realize the heavy hetero slant of this question.

Photo: tntblonde

But I pose it as such because most of us have been raised in a world that has an imposed standard of heterosexuality. I would argue that, as a generalization, queers have already posed the inverse question – “Should I be having hetero sex?” I’m simply flipping the equation.

To get some perspective on the question of “Is a same-sex encounter important in living holistically?” I posed it to a couple of my most sex-educated friends.

“Often straight people get all excited about how enlightened and progressive they are because they made out with a person of the same sex once, but all that means is a lot of self-congratulation without requiring them to let go of straight privilege or challenging their heteronormativity. It’s a very non-threatening way of dealing with same-sex sex because it both titillates and allows people to keep on being just as straight-minded as they ever were, regardless of who they just boinked. Sort of like saying, ‘Look how healthy I am, I just ate some tofu!’ before going back to McDonald’s and Twinkies. Meh. Not so holistic in my books.” – Andrea Zanin (BA Sexuality Studies, MA Women’s Studies)

“I personally believe that same sex encounters are ‘important’ for individuals period. Pleasure is a fundamental right we have and if we are so inclined to want to experience a same sex encounter for curiosity, pleasure, risqué behavior or just because we want to fuck someone that have the same naughty bits as we do, then so be it!” – Mylene St. Pierre (BA Sexology, MA Toxicomanie)

And then I threw the question out to the twitterverse. Here are some of my favorite responses:

“I’d never want that question turned around backwards on me, so I’m obligated to answer ‘no.’” – @dp4

“Alternatively, would an opposite-sex experience be an important part of living a holistic life?” @jackiehallet

“No, same-sex experience isn’t important for a holistic life. If it were true, then the reverse would be true. EW! Icky!” @Tyffanie

The overwhelming reaction to the question has been negative. And to be honest, my personal answer to this question is a fairly solid “No.” As a blanket policy, we do not need to have a same-sex experience (for heteros) nor a heterosexual experience (for queers) to be living a sexually holistic lifestyle. It all depends on what we individually value.

Photo: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

Perhaps the more valuable nugget of exploration simply revolves around ‘openness’ to various experiences. What is holding us back from sexual experiences that peak our curiosities? How could we make our fantasies more achievable?

And ultimately, how can we continue to demystify and celebrate sexual diversity – hetero, homo and everything in between? Living a sexually holistic lifestyle will imply an evolving dance with boundaries and questions, with values and practices.

And as I continue to test my own personal boundaries, I’ve realized two things. Firstly, for the sake of experimentation, it might just be time for this homo to jump into the heterosexual end of the pool. And secondly, no matter whom I partner up with, you’ll still find me in my local yoga class, maintaining my flexibility.

For the sexually holistic benefits.

Photo: Mara ~earth light~

“Close your eyes and follow your breath. If your mind wanders off, just come back to your breathing.”

Some of us are familiar with this type of encouragement being voiced during a guided meditation session. Developing awareness about our sometimes entertaining and exasperating stream of thoughts is one benefit of a meditation practice. To experience the peace, joy, and well-being found in the present moment, we can simply follow our breath and allow our thoughts and feelings to fade into the background.

Like meditation, the practice of intuitive eating allows us to become familiar with a host of vital body signals, which most of us overlook, override, or suppress. Returning to our breath helps us regain clarity in meditation. Similarly, our body’s hunger signals offer centering in our eating life. If you are interested in experiencing a radical sense of wellness in the relationship with your body, then intuitive eating is for you.

Listening to Your Body Gets Results

I discovered intuitive eating in December 2007, as it was the top result of a web search for “listening to your body.” I soon learned that intuitive eating is a non-dieting approach consisting of a set of 10 guiding principles. These principles help create a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body. The originators of this approach, Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA, provide a holistic path to wellness in their ground breaking book, Intuitive Eating.

Here are the 10 Principles:

• Reject the Diet Mentality
• Honor Your Hunger
• Make Peace with Food
• Challenge the Food Police
• Respect Your Fullness
• Discover the Satisfaction Factor
• Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food
• Respect Your Body
• Exercise–Feel the Difference
• Honor Your Health–Gentle Nutrition

You can get an intuitive idea about what will be explored within each principle based on the headings alone. Or, you can read a description of each of the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating.

My mission is to help increase awareness and adoption of this sustainable approach to getting off the giant hamster wheel of dieting. I will offer some insights into the discoveries and challenges that may emerge on your personal intuitive eating journey, and will address the number one question posed by the non-dieting curious.

Eating as a Self-Discovery Practice

Eating is one of the most basic methods that we use to care for ourselves. Therefore, our eating behaviors have a critical impact on our sense of well-being. Through practicing intuitive eating, we become familiar with the unique sensations that our body offers when physically hungry.

Photo: BruceTurner

Each of us has heard and felt gurgles or growls, and may have experienced faintness or a sensation of hollowness in our stomachs. While investigating my unique body hunger process, I discovered a growing sensation of heat in my abdomen immediately before I’m hungry. Previously, I had no awareness of that indicator.

Interpreting your unique body signals helps you optimize your ability to respond properly to your body’s needs. Being clear about your true hunger signals allows you to know when you are truly hungry versus when you are using food to meet or suppress deal with emotional needs. Knowing your true hunger will help you minimize overeating. Additionally, this process helps reveal your own distinctive experiences of satisfaction during and after you eat. The signals for when your remarkable body wants to move and express itself will also become much clearer.

There are invaluable and numerous insights on the intuitive eating journey. What wonders will you discover? Start practicing and let your body take the lead.

Moving Beyond Fear

Of course, the shift into a life beyond dieting has its challenges and pitfalls. Many people have fears of uncontrollable weight gain should they liberate themselves from the controlling diet mentality. However, according to Carol Munter & Jane Hirschmann, authors of Overcoming Overeatingand When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies,weight gain is actually the last stop on the dieting/binge cycle. In effect, people diet, rebel and binge, and then gain the weight back.

A fundamental transformation in my awareness occurred when I began to understand the dieting/binge cycle, and my ability to care for my body was enormously improved by reading When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies. I didn’t actually hate my body. It was my ability to care for myself that was underdeveloped.

Avoiding a Tricky Trap

One pitfall on the intuitive eating path occurs when some people misinterpret the 10 principles as a strict set of rules and then turn the process into another diet. As a result, rebellion arises and intuitive eating gets thrown into the pile with all of the other “been there, done that” diets.

Photo: helgasms!

Remember that it is impossible to fail at intuitive eating. Why? As you continue to practice, you get a clean slate with each new meal. You can always simply come back to honoring your body’s hunger and fullness signals.

I began my intuitive eating journey with the intention of “finding balance”. I had lived for decades with a chronic fear of gaining weight and noticed that I did gain easily. So, finding that sweet spot of not losing or gaining was good enough for me.

Like any person living in this weight obsessed culture, thoughts of “losing weight” do surface regularly. When thoughts arise in meditation, we notice them, sometimes name them, and let them go. I remind myself that “weight loss” is just another thought and I come back to my hunger and fullness signals. Any time I eat in a non-intuitive way, I know that I have an opportunity to come back to my hunger and fullness signals at my next meal.

Consistency over perfection is an attainable goal. Making peace with food and your body is possible.

An Answer Revealed

So, what’s the number one question voiced by those curious about a non-diet approach?

“Does intuitive eating really work?”

What people are really asking is, “will I lose weight?” Authors and practitioners in the non-dieting field will tell you that your body will find its “natural weight.” Some of their clients have lost weight, some have gained weight, and some have experienced no change in weight at all. My answer to that question is that you will experience a variety of life-enhancing results from practicing intuitive eating.

Dieting creates an ongoing war between your mind and your body. Ultimately, when you choose to end that war and make peace, you will discover that only your body can reveal the answers. In response to your growing ability to care for your body in nurturing ways and to respect and honor its signals, your body may choose to shift sizes. Dieting forces a shift. With intuitive eating, you allow your body to determine if and when a size shift happens.

That’s radical wellness.

Photo: Zawezome

At this point, it’s no secret that I’ve lacked the tendency toward one-night stands and such. Even had a downright aversion to them. But I’m not sure I’ve actually explained why before, or I’ve only vaguely insinuated the reason. And I think in a way, that’s been on purpose.

Sex has always meant more to me than maybe the average person. Ok, mass over-generalization there, but culturally, a fair assessment, I believe: people tend to jump in the sack pretty darn easily, whether fueled by alcohol/drugs, an addiction, or just simple horniness. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not really been a part of my makeup.

I spent years feeling weird about it – why couldn’t I just get it on for the fun of it? In college, I had a lot of fear around sex, what with a solid number of my female friends being forcibly “nudged” into the act while they were wasted and/or passed out. It was easier to just hook up with my ex-boyfriend, who I knew was a safe option, yet the act of which kept me from moving on, getting a feel for new territory.

Later, in my 20s, as my body was slowly falling apart, my sex drive went along with it. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t have any, and there were short-term relationships and a few hook-ups here and there. But even then, my hook-ups didn’t go “all the way.” I just wasn’t interested in someone who wasn’t really interested in me being inside of me, what can I say?

As the years went by, and my health improved, I felt drawn toward experimentation, as I do in general in my life. I also had this general sense of missing something/letting my life pass me by. So I attempted a few liaisons that well, fell flat. When it came down to it, I just wasn’t really down with it. This was getting to be downright shitty, stuck between a cock and a hard place (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

Finally, sometime after the date with the yoga teacher that I’d been so damn attracted to until he opened his mouth, making me want to scratch my eyes out, but before the man that I fell head-over-heels for who didn’t want to have sex with me (WTF?), I started to get it.

Sex always, ALWAYS, means something.

No Need to be a Prude

This realization doesn’t equal me spouting some nonsense like people should wait until marriage, or that to have a one night stand is immoral. Nope, not even close.

Oh, those wild and crazy Egyptians
Photo: sinabeet

But I think sex often gets relegated to either side of the spectrum – on the one hand it is this dirty, taboo, lustful thing that everyone’s doing, but gotta hide from other people’s knowledge (as in, pretend you aren’t participating in freaky-deaky acts of perversion). On the other, it is meant only for two married heterosexual people who are somewhat allowed to enjoy it, but all-in-all, it is meant for procreation purposes.

I understand there is a more accepted “middle-ground” in most of western society today where sex is meant to be enjoyed between two committed partners, whether married or not. Even to a certain extent, a good chunk of people are ok with the sexual trysts of the single world (thanks, Sex and the City).

Still, sex tends to be an all-or-nothing option: it is only meaningful and fulfilling when it happens in the context of love, and it’s only fucking when it happens between two people not in a relationship. And don’t even try to bring up gay, transgendered, multiple partners, open relationships, fat, elderly, or teenage sex in most circles.

My question is: what if we stepped into sex, whatever form we are participating in it, with a feeling of honor and sacredness?

Of course, not all sex can possibly fall under the category of “sacred” – rape, child predators, essentially places where sex is forced on an unwilling participant. But I wonder if we brought back an idea of consciousness into the equation – instead of the the point just being to get your rocks off – whether at least some people who commit these heinous acts (which we often forget – or don’t like to look at – were committed against them, and help was not available to break that cycle) would refrain?

No, it’s not just that simple, but it might just be a piece of the puzzle.

Like many things in life, we often like to dismiss sex as this purely physical act that our hormones and biology demand that we participate in. Yes, this is probably at the core of our drive, and yet I believe it is one of several wide-reaching roots. If you believe that recycling in the United States can impact the rising temperatures in the Arctic, and if you believe that the food you decide to eat not only can make you gain or lose weight, that it also makes your brain work differently, then why in the world would sex not effect the mind, body, and spirit?

Living With a One-Track Mind

I happened across a blog the other day I’d never heard of, yet I guess became wildly popular in Britain beginning in ‘04. It’s called, Girl with a one-track mind, and follows the sexual escapades (that really is a horrible word, and not her description) of one woman, originally from an undercover pseudonym (she has since been outed as Zoe Margolis). I starting clicking through her blog archives and came across this paragraph from her Instinct post:

Sometimes sex is just about your body connecting with someone else’s and you being unable to resist the combined attraction. Perhaps this is explained away by genetics or biology; I’m more inclined to put it down to instinct: sometimes you just want to fuck someone, and by god, if you do, you sure as hell are going to enjoy it.

Yes, sometimes sex is just about attraction. But it is never just about the physical. It will have an emotional impact (man or woman, short or long-term), it will have a mental impact, and it will have a spiritual impact. Living in the present, and honoring those that mill around us on this Earth means understanding that you can’t split off the body and it’s crazy hormones, storing them in a box next to your Penthouses or vibrators. Yes, that might be easier if it was even remotely possible, but we are whole beings. No lopping off of any part of us.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see this as a bad thing. A pretty big point of this life is to get to know who the hell we are, and so consciously stepping into any sexual relationship can really only help that to happen. And hey, it might actually make you freer to feel pleasure…especially in the long run.

Photo: focalplane

Despite the hoopla over Climategate, don’t go out and buy four Hummers yet. There’s some purty depressing realities out there, including the fact that global warming has outpaced predictions. Yep, that means things are already worse than experts thought they would be at this point. Looks like by the end of this century, sea levels are gonna rise by two meters, or around six feet.

And guess what? We’ve already passed the tipping point. According to Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at Germany’s Potsdam Institute and a widely recognized sea level expert, it’s officially unstoppable:

There is no way I can see to stop this rise, even if we have gone to zero emissions.

Take that, Freakonomics guys.

Author Deborah Teramis Christian describes what exactly that will (not might) look like:

This is not a distant eventuality, but a sea change (literally) whose effects we will see within our lifetimes. By 2050 certain populated coastal areas will be significantly impacted by this impending change in sea level. It is no exaggeration to say entire cities will be flooded or submerged: a 2-meter sea rise will, for example, obliterate built-up urban areas in the southern San Francisco Bay, including parts of San Jose. It will submerge chunks of the Port of Los Angeles, threaten Washington D.C., and drown portions of the densely built Jersey shore and industrial New York waterfronts. Low-lying coastal islands off the Carolinas, Florida, and along the Gulf Coast will simply vanish.

And about 40 million people worldwide live in flood plains. This one’s gonna hit the rich and the poor (though I wonder who will come out less scathed).

Canada, our supposedly green-friendly neighbor to the North, is not helping out with things either. According to George Monbiot:

In 2006 the new Canadian government announced that it was abandoning its targets to cut greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol. No other country that had ratified the treaty has done this. Canada was meant to have cut emissions by 6% between 1990 and 2012. Instead they have already risen by 26%(1).

He adds that in December 2008, the climate change performance index assessed the environmental efforts of the 60 richest nations, and ranked Saudi Arabia 60th. Canada? 59th. Ouch.

What’s up with Canada? This may come as a major surprise (it did to me), but Canada holds the world’s second largest oil reserves, right after, you guessed it, Saudi Arabia (isn’t it nice how they are working side by side?). Canada actually produces “oil sands” which is a mixture of sand, water, clay, and Bitumen, and the Bitumen ain’t easy to get to. But they are willing to tear up tons of pristine Canadian land to get to it (sound familiar?).

Lastly (for now), if you have it in you, another one of Monbiot’s post – this one a debate with Paul Kingsnorth – is worth a read. The question is, should we even bother trying to save industrial civilization? We’re going to hell in a hand bag, and Kingsnorth pretty much says bring on the apocalypse and move on to greener pastures. Monbiot fears that with several billion people perishing in the process, greener pastures may be a hard thing to come by. Read it for yourself and decide. Or at least contemplate.

What To Do?

Ok, so what’s the positive spin on our newest state of global environmental crisis? Well, if we can stabilize temps (by seriously cutting down on worldwide emissions), then we can hope for only a steady rise in the sea level over the next few centuries, rather than one that rises at an accelerated rate. Ok, not great, or really plausible, but something.

Al Gore also believes we have the tools to stop global warming STAT. Putting a stop to deforestation and setting in place population controls should do the trick.

Maybe we should just shut down Vegas? That would probably cut our energy use in about half.

Yeah, those aren’t so easy for us little people to implement either. So, here we go – it’s time for each of us to think about something big we are gonna give up in the New Year. Something that takes a lot of energy for one person or family to use. That way, we each have control, and can make a big difference.

Here are my two things for the New Year:

• I will only buy local foods for at least three months, and will only eat at restaurants that do not serve local foods max twice a month.
• I will not travel to places based primarily on over-using natural resources such as water and electricity.

What are you gonna do?

Photo: Pink Sherbet Photography

In the alternative health field, there are never-ending possibilities of methods to try. The other day, I walked by a health center and was perusing the list of available treatments taped to the door. I knew the first one – Energy Healing – and had no idea what any of the (I’m not kidding) other 30 options were. And I have a Masters in Holistic Health Education, jeez.

So I could hardly name all of the different types of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, or energetic approaches to healing available out there. But I just want to give a quick overview of some approaches for those who are interested in taking their health to the next level–or feel as if what they have tried thus far isn’t working.

And in some ways I consider myself an expert on trying new approaches. Here is a condensed list of what I have tried over the last several years:

Acupuncture, Acupressure, Thai Massage, Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Hypnotherapy, Rolfing, Cranial-Sacral Therapy, Nutrition Counseling, Ayurvedic Consultation, NAET Allergy Elimination, Chiropractic Adjustment, Energy Healing, Psychic Healing, Holistic Life Coaching, Dance Therapy, Reiki, Homeopathy, Herbal medicine, Detoxification, Trigger-point Therapy, Astrology, Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Body Wraps, Naturopathy, Talk Therapy, Colonics, Enemas, Ionic Foot Bath, Foot detox pads, Liver flushing, Bach Flower Essences, Parasite Cleanse, Reflexology

Yes, that is indeed a condensed list. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of more choices.

After trying all of these approaches, I, of course, have opinions on each of them. Some seemed to work, others not so much. But just as with anything, every approach will work for some people and not for others. Or it will work at one point in a person’s life and not another.

Confused?

What I recommend is to choose one approach per ‘category’ (i.e. physical body vs. emotions) at a time, and have it coincide with what you feel is most pertinent at the moment. Is your body really in a lot of pain and your doctor is giving you shots of cortisone so that you can lift your arm? Maybe you should consider finding a low-cost deep tissue massage place and set up six appointments in three weeks time, while paying attention to how your body feels after eating – are there certain foods that seem to make your body feel inflamed?

In this sense, you are physically taking a proven path to reducing inflammation (massage) AND a mental/emotional approach to tackling the cause (often food allergies and consuming inflammatory foods, such as sugar, are at least partially rooted in emotions).

But I wouldn’t recommend trying to get massages and chiropractic adjustments at the same time. They could either conflict with each other, or if you end up feeling better, you won’t know which one worked. So in the future, if you have the same type of pain, you’ll be stuck (no pun intended).

Here are some possible approaches:

Talk therapy

Photo: dospaz

Great place to start. I think everyone needs to do participate in talk therapy for at least a couple of years. Is it good to do for 15 years, though? Umm, not in my personal opinion. People seem to get caught, going around and around in a circular fashion and not really getting anywhere after a while.

We all need to understand what happened in our childhood, rehash all the AWFUL things that our parents did to us (and that we, unknowingly, will do/are doing to our children), how the school bully scarred us for life, and how high school is really just hell in a handbag, but then, we need to be able to move on. And continuing to talk about how what is happening in your life right now is connected to what happened to you as a kid doesn’t really let you move on.

What’s up next? Maybe cognitive behavioral therapy, where the therapist works with a client to change thought patterns, or neuro-linguistic programming, where “re-learning” how we view things can permanently shift fear and other reactions.

Somatic therapy

Somatic therapists believe that we hold emotions in our muscles and tissues. It makes sense; pay attention to how your body reacts the next time you get angry – does your stomach tighten? Do you throw your shoulders back?

Through movement, bodywork and some talking, these emotions can be released in a way that simply talking about them does not facilitate. Maybe when you’ve gotten to that place of having heard yourself regurgitate the same old story for the 55th time, it might be a sign to move on to the non-verbal arena.

Some somatic therapies include CranioSacral Therapy, where a practitioner uses their hands on the back of the skull with a weight of about a nickel to stimulate the body’s own healing abilities; Hellerwork, which combines bodywork, movement education and talk therapy; and Rebirthing-Breathwork, which involves re-living the birthing process in order to heal birth trauma and other childhood issues.

Energy therapy/healing

Photo: daviza

Ok, I realize this area is a big jump for a lot of people. We can be down with getting acupuncture ’cause it’s relaxing, and can handle a massage therapist holding their hands above our head for a few moments at the end of a massage since we are dead to the world anyway.

But going in specifically to get healed by someone who doesn’t necessarily seem to be doing a whole lotta anything–weeell, that’s a bit of a stretch.

Give yourself the room to disbelieve. And then try it anyway.

Most of us believe in some form of a soul, and I think this is a great place to start in terms of understanding what energy is all about. You can’t see it, you can’t touch it, you can sometimes feel it, if you try really, really hard and kinda, sorta pretend. But trust me, if you give it a few tries, you WILL feel the effects. Calmness comes to mind. Less irritation. Less fire. Less “I want to punch the idiot in the car next to me who is driving the same speed as me.”

There are many forms of energy healing from which to choose: Qigong, Reiki, Visualization, Meditation, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). You can have a practitioner do it; often you can do it yourself (or both). It will make all the other work you are doing physically, mentally, and emotionally more effective. You’ll sleep better. Your kids will be less insane. You’ll end up having the perfect body.

Ok, not the last one. But, not only will you feel better, you’re more likely to think your body is perfect just the way it is.

Photo: diegodacal

Ayurveda, which means the science of life, is a comprehensive medical system that has been the traditional system of healthcare in India for more than five-thousand years.

It is also considered by many to be the origin of medicine.

Ayur means life and Veda means science. The principal focus of Ayurveda is maintaining good health and adopting a healthy way of living. It uses a holistic approach to health, which means that not only is the body treated as a single unit, but other aspects of our lives are taken into consideration, such as our social, cultural as well as our spiritual environment.

Most importantly, individual differences are taken into account when providing treatment and care for diseases.

One of the most fundamental concepts in Ayurveda is the concept of the five elements (bhutas) which are: space, air, fire, water and earth. According to Ayurveda:

Every human being is a microcosm of nature or the universe, and therefore all things that are present in nature are also a part of human beings.

The Doshas

Every human being also inherits a unique mix of three mind/body principles which create our specific mental and physical characteristics. These three principles – or bioenergetic forces – that govern our internal and external environment, are called doshas. The five elements combine to form these three doshas, each of which are present, to some extent, in everyone.

Space and air constitute Vata, fire and water constitute Pitta, while water and earth combine to form Kapha. Each individual has a different constitution or Prakriti (constitution determined at the time of birth) depending on the predominance of one or more of these doshas.

Each one of these doshas is associated with a particular pattern of energy and personality, which includes physical, mental and emotional characteristics. The state of harmony among the body doshas of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, constitutes health; when unbalanced or in a state of disharmony, they result in chaos and disease.

This state of disharmony or imbalance manifests itself through specific physical signs and symptoms, including a build-up of ama (toxins). An imbalance in a dosha could be attributed to a number of causes, such as an unhealthy diet or lifestyle, weather, chemicals, germs or stress.

Vata's air
Photo: Adam Pniak

Vata – the energy of movement, action and transportation which govern breathing, blinking, heart beat, blood circulation as well as thoughts.

A Vata dominant person is usually thin, light, with bony joints, dry skin and thin hair.

When Vata is balanced, this person is energetic, creative and intuitive. An out of balance Vata can become anxious, nervous and fearful.

Pitta's Fire
Photo: cat segovia

Pitta – this is the energy of metabolism and chemical transformation in the body which controls functions including digestion and heat production.

A person whose primary dosha is Pitta, is usually of light or medium frame, has distinct eyes, soft oily skin, strong appetite, and a forceful way of speaking. A balanced Pitta is sharp, focused, orderly and tidy. When Pitta is out of balance the result is usually anger, jealousy, and irritability.

Kapha's Earthiness
Photo: Julien Harneis

Kapha – the energy of construction, lubrication and nourishment. It supplies all of the fluid needs of the body and is the binding energy in the body (lubrication of joints, forming of mucus).

A person whose predominant dosha is Kapha is usually well built/full-bodied, with round features, large eyes, smooth skin and thick hair. A balanced Kapha is loving, nurturing, and caring. An out of balance Kapha can be greedy, possessive and lazy.

The management of illness entails restoring a balance among the doshas through lifestyle interventions, treatment with proper nutrition, or herb-mineral formulas based on one’s mental and bodily constitution. Also included are yoga and meditation, or any combination of these. Ayurveda emphasizes the use of body, mind, and spirit for disease prevention, as well as for the treatment of all diseases.

So what does this mean for you? You can start by determining your constitution. There are several advantages to knowing your constitution, such as a better understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, physiological tendencies, and maintaining good health by balancing your doshas. There are a few online quizzes, found here and here, that you can take to give you an idea of what your individual make up is. Or, it can be accurately determined by a physician trained in Ayurvedic diagnosis.

Several treatment modalities can be used to remove the cause of disease or imbalance, strengthen the body’s ability to remove toxins and to restore balance. Undergoing a Panchakarma program–a five-action internal cleaning process to remove ama–with an experienced Ayurvedic practitioner is one of the most widely known ones in the West.

No matter what aspect you choose, Ayurveda can help to restore balance physically, emotionally, and spiritually.