Study: Diet May Help ADHD Kids More Than Drugs

Posted on March 13, 2011 by ceremonyheals

‘Ya think??????

Hyperactivity. Fidgeting. Inattention. Impulsivity. If your child has one or more of these qualities on a regular basis, you may be told that he or she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. If so, they’d be among about 10 percent of children in the United States.

Kids with ADHD can be restless and difficult to handle. Many of them are treated with drugs, but a new study says food may be the key. Published in The Lancet journal, the study suggests that with a very restrictive diet, kids with ADHD could experience a significant reduction in symptoms.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Lidy Pelsser of the ADHD Research Centre in the Netherlands, writes in The Lancet that the disorder is triggered in many cases by external factors — and those can be treated through changes to one’s environment.

“ADHD, it’s just a couple of symptoms — it’s not a disease,” the Dutch researcher tells All Things Considered weekend host Guy Raz.

The way we think about — and treat — these behaviors is wrong, Pelsser says. “There is a paradigm shift needed. If a child is diagnosed ADHD, we should say, ‘OK, we have got those symptoms, now let’s start looking for a cause.’ ”

Pelsser compares ADHD to eczema. “The skin is affected, but a lot of people get eczema because of a latex allergy or because they are eating a pineapple or strawberries.”

According to Pelsser, 64 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD are actually experiencing a hypersensitivity to food. Researchers determined that by starting kids on a very elaborate diet, then restricting it over a few weeks’ time.

“It’s only five weeks,” Pelsser says. “If it is the diet, then we start to find out which foods are causing the problems.”

Teachers and doctors who worked with children in the study reported marked changes in behavior. “In fact, they were flabbergasted,” Pelsser says.

“After the diet, they were just normal children with normal behavior,” she says. No longer were they easily distracted or forgetful, and the temper tantrums subsided.

Some teachers said they never thought it would work, Pelsser says. “It was so strange,” she says, “that a diet would change the behavior of a child as thoroughly as they saw it. It was a miracle, a teacher said.”

But diet is not the solution for all children with ADHD, Pelsser cautions.

“In all children, we should start with diet research,” she says. If a child’s behavior doesn’t change, then drugs may still be necessary. “But now we are giving them all drugs, and I think that’s a huge mistake,” she says.

Also, Pelsser warns, altering your child’s diet without a doctor’s supervision is inadvisable (editorial comment from the Feral Physician: WTF????? How dangerous can food be if it is NOT about anaphylaxis? I do not agree that it is “dangerous” to alter your child’s diet without a doctor’s supervision!).

“We have got good news — that food is the main cause of ADHD,” she says. “We’ve got bad news — that we have to train physicians to monitor this procedure because it cannot be done by a physician who is not trained.”

Editorial comment #2: We had NO NUTRITIONAL TRAINING– other than basic biochemistry when I went to med school– don’t expect your doctor to know SQUAT about good eating habits and appropriate food choices for children)

from NPR ‘s Weekend edition:

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/12/134456594/study-diet-may-help-adhd-kids-more-than-drugs?ft=1&f=1001

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Morning (mourning?) Mermaid Magic 3/12/2011

Posted on March 12, 2011 by ceremonyheals

Wow. “Waving Overwhelming Wonder”

Every woman in our circle ( we are at 21 signed on at present, and still open to more) deserves the skill of transformational breathwork to breathe through the images and words regarding the WONDER of the last 48 hours. If you do not know breathwork, contact me– I will connect you with a sister who does.

Here’s a link to more “left brain” info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03arUEZ5cbU

The breaths for the images and the times are the “Fear to Excitement”  and the “Sadness to Compassion”. My “musings” section of Channeling the Muse going out  on 3/25 will feature a guided excercise in using these two breaths; maybe anger to POWER also (depending on what happens over the next two weeks in the wide wide world)!

That is the first message on this Brand New Day. My spirit guides tell me that we have just crossed a threshold as humans, with the Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster. My vocation is spiritual doula. My circles at present are men over 50, and mermaid women. Separate and very UNEQUAL circles.

This is a mermaid message. The circle remains open through the spring Equinox. We have room for whomever wants to swim with us, and is female.

If you did not open the “Pie Jesu” link, I encourage you to do so, and to listen. We MUST make beauty and deepen the meaning of all that is happening around us. Transition is accelerating.

Message number two: we have, within us, everything that we need for these times. We have our treasures in the watery womb of our collective consciousness, and our powerful life experience. We truly are the ones that we’ve been waiting for.

Message #3. The Japanese follows the Haitian, which followed Katrina, which was preceeded by the Indonesian Disaster.  Here is the dictionary.com definition of disaster:

“a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure…Obsolete . an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet (italics mine)”

I remind you that there is an article being disseminated, with very FAVORABLE aspects of the planet and the stars being brought forward (see Russo’s Revolution in Consciousness”)

Mermaids, swimming through an ocean together. Creating a psychic group mind where the waters are warm, and we are nurturing each other, and singing, and playing together.

The erotic is critical to our survival. The erotic, in the face of Disaster, is vital to our transformation, as a human species.

Here are some word pairs to simply play with/ meditate on, alone:

Separation and UNION        lack and ABUNDANCE        fear and PEACE

bondage and FREEDOM        sacrifice and INNOCENCE        perfection and FLEXIBILITY

power and INNER STRENGTH        permanence and CHANGE         unknown and KNOWN

time/death and INFINITY

Please call me, for a person to person check in, if you feel so moved and or are having difficulties staying in balance with the weight of the background noise these days. I have been weaving connections between mermaids, and continue to be excited abut our “field trips”. Here’s another opportunity:

Jackie Rose is turning 59 and celebrating, on 3/25 in Greenfield. Contact me for more info and a formal invite!

in love, COURAGE, and compassion;

Opeyemi

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Facts and Fantasies, as the World Turns (inside out)

Posted on March 12, 2011 by ceremonyheals

Wow. “Waving Overwhelming Wonder”. That is the skill that I am honing as I bear witness to a world in chaos.

What May Be Coming Next has many possibilities.

In El Mundo Bueno *, the Japanese continue to demonstrate awe-inspiring interpersonal connection, and political transparency in dealing with the disaster as it continues to unfold. In el Mundo Bueno we all move forward together with a clear and powerful warning, regarding the dangers of nuclear energy. The entire world begins to move away from such deadly technolgies.

In El Mundo Malo, the problematic nuclear reactors have escalating issues. Perhaps more damage, as aftershocks of 5 and 6 (we call those earthquakes elsewhere) continue. Perhaps a meltdown. Perhaps (this being el MUCHO mundo malo) a meltdown, followed by another tsunami, and contamination of the ocean, with radiation.

I do not speak these possibilities as a fear monger, but as an oracle.

With Katrina, we were offered to possibility of looking at our emergency preparedness, our classism, and racism in this country. Did we learn our lessons?

With Haiti, we marvelled at the resiliency of a people with the spirit to be dancing on the beaches the night of their catastrophe. Then we sent aid that introduced cholera and worsened their suffering.

With BP Oil, we felt panic as raw crude bled into the gulf waters. We are chafing at the bit to begin drilling again, as gasoline prices soar to $3.50 a gallon, and the corporate villains in that scandal plot new ways to avoid paying damages.

With Haiti, we marveled at the resiliency of a people with the spirit to be dancing on the beaches the night of their catastrophe. Then we sent aid that introduced a Southeast Asian cholera and worsened their suffering.

FACT: the magnetic poles are shifting, possibly preparing for a “flip”:

“The last time the poles switched was 780,000 years ago, and it’s happened about 400 times in 330 million years. Each reversal takes a thousand years or so to complete, and it takes longer for the shift to take effect at the equator than at the poles. The field has weakened about 10% in the last 150 years. Some scientists think this is a sign of a flip in progress”

from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question782.htm

FACT: we have no idea what this might look like, feel like or how it will affect humans, other than the likelihood of a period of time when the earth loses it’s protection from solar radiation for an unspecified period of time. Maybe minutes. Or hours. Or days.

Learning more about how to protect ourselves from radiation exposure seem EXACTLY RIGHT, right now.

BY THEIR DIETS AND LIFESTYLE, THE JAPANESE ARE WELL EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH RADIATION EXPOSURE, relative to other parts of the world (like the Ukraine or Three Mile Island)) where radiation exposure has happened; I still trust that the biosphere/Gaia/Mother Earth is being as gentle as possible with us 7 billion humans…

She is saying “wake up, and STAY AWAKE”

My personal response to my own fears and anxieties is to remind myself to breathe, to inform and to share actual facts with as many as will listen. I  listen to that calm, still voice inside of me that is telling me what to do and how to refuel my heart with awe for the magic in my day to day world. I don’t believe that the answers are on-line, or in the world of science. We must find them in co-created ways, for oursleves. We must use right and left brains, hearts, and souls to be with all of this change.

I will post the messages that I receive from Spirit, after I go and sweat my prayers for Japan and the World on Sunday, March 13.

In love and light– OPEYEMI (eternally grateful)

* a phrase used by Starhawk in the novel “The Fifth Sacred Thing indicated the personal spiritual/ psychic power to bring forth nightmares or miracles

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Jessie speaks Truth to Power

Posted on March 9, 2011 by ceremonyheals

I went to write about the Chaos of the moment, but Jessie has already said it all:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1912349975279

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Kings of Cups: The Endocrine System

Posted on March 4, 2011 by ceremonyheals

 

 

Hang on to your hats, gentlemen… this is the BIG one.

No one told any of us how important and complicated this system is.  It is second only to our immune systems on being unknown and unappreciated—and that includes by physicians.

Let us focus for a moment on what your endocrine system is. We are talking about hormone manufacturing places in your body, and the effect these hormones have throughout the body.  Like your immune system, this network is so complex and magical that conventional medicine has been stymied by the fact that it does not break down into pieces that you could dissect, or look at under a microscope, or analyze chemically.

Unfortunately, when we doctors do not understand something, we have had a tendency to ignore it. Illnesses associated with the pituitary, the thyroid and thymus glands, the  pancreas, the adrenal glands, your testicles and your prostate often have big time hormonal issues.

Like Newtonian physics was to Quantum physics, we are trying to move into “Quantum biology”. The best term to describe this shift in belief that can be comprehensible to “left-brainers” would be “psychoneuroimmunology”.

English translation #1: there is now scientific proof that our emotions (psycho) connect to our thinking (neuro) and to the homeostatic maintenance of health (immunology) in our bodies. Hormones are key players in that homeostasis.

English translation #2: science is getting “new-agey” and describing mind/body/spirit medicine.

Translation #3: lots of other non-M.D. healers around the world are going “We told you so!!!”

A hormone is defined as any chemical that is produced in one part of the body, and has an action somewhere else. These chemicals move through our bloodstream. This means that a hormone will pass by every cell that the blood carrying it passes by, or better or for worse. Add in the fact that hormones control our growth, our metabolism, our sexual characteristics, and our sexuality and you should fall down on the ground and appreciate nature, God, or whatever it is that you believe got us these wonderful living machines we inhabit. What is truly amazing when you understand the pathophysiology of the human body is that we manage to stay so healthy, so much of the time!

Let us walk through two excellent examples with big consequences.

INSULIN is a hormone. It is produced in the pancreas, and has an action on every cell in our bodies. That action is to act like a key and to let glucose into the cell. All of our cells run on glucose. A person with type one diabetes has a disease where the body has (mostly) stopped making insulin. This means that the cells don’t have a key to let the glucose into them any more, and that the glucose backs up in the bloodstream. Type II diabetes is a disease where the insulin is there, but the cells stop being able to use the key to open the door. This is called insulin resistance. More and more insulin has to be sent to the cells to make that door open. If not well managed, type II diabetics need insulin from outside of their own bodies, just like the ones who cannot manufacture insulin (type I).

Diabetes was a terminal diagnosis, before the discovery of insulin and its subsequent manufacturing (originally from beef and pork much later genetically engineered) in 1923.

Essential hypertension means high blood pressure that just happens, and nobody really knows why. There are many hormones involved with regulating our blood pressure; if this interests you, check out the simplest explanation that I could find, which is at wikopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renin-angiotensin_system

Out of balance in one hormone and you develop diabetes. Out of balance in several hormones that regulate blood pressure and water excretion (peeing and sweating by any other name) and you develop high blood pressure.

This quick review of an organ system of the human body that is much more than an organ system is key to understanding much that limits the conventional medical model. Remember we are basically using a system (allopathic medicine) that only discovered germ theory about 150 years ago, and that based much of its understanding of the human body on dissecting dead corpses. You cannot see the immune system, the endocrine system or the nervous system– not really– in a dead body. It is no surprise that conventional medicine is not doing so well with long term treatments that work (and continue to work) for illnesses with complex endocrine components. Treatments that are coming out of of new science and research into the endocrine system will be exactly that– NEW. That means there is no long-term statistical evidence on efficacy. In the pharmaceutical world, “new” has generally meant less than 20 years of data available.

Ironically, what we ARE getting “long-term data” on relative to our body and endocrine system is the effect of endocrine disruptors. Here’s the wikopedia definition of what an endocrine disruptor does:

“interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis (normal cell metabolism), reproduction, development, and/or behavior.”

Guess what products we are talking about now? Pesticides.

Hormone disruption is a major mechanism of many pesticides, DDT being at the top of that list. Other categories of dangerous hormone disruptors:

Polychlorinated biphenyls (industrial coolants and lubricants)

Bisphenol A (plastic water bottles and containers)

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants)

Phthalates (toys, flooring, medical equipment!!!!, cosmetics and air fresheners)

Alkylphenols (detergents)

Now you can better comprehend the connections in this great web of life, and how our own arrogance may be coming back to bite us in the ass.

Cancer. Joe Jackson sang, “everything gives you cancer” and sometimes it feels like he’s right. Certainly avoiding known cancer causing materials in our modern environment is very hard to do.

Back to the endocrine system, as it relates to cancer. There is a flurry out there of new drugs that fight cancer cells by effecting our endocrine systems. Top of the list are anti-estrogenic and anti-androgenic chemotherapies. Top of the list for men will be prostate cancer therapies:

“Compounds in development that target androgen receptor activation hold great promise for men with prostate cancer.”

from: Update on cancer threapeutics at

http://www.updateoncancer.com/article/S1872-115X(07)00048-5/abstract

I offer this health education essay because it is humbling and a reality check to truly understand that what we see as the science of medicine is very new to even beginning to try to understand the complex relationships of these special chemicals in our bodies. There is an ENTIRE journal (Homones and Behavior) for a subdivision of modern medicine called neuroendocrinology (see http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.agents/622842/authorinstructions)

Where there are drugs in our culture, we usually find abuse,too. Like opiates, steroid hormones have great abuse potential. People who are begun on hormone therapy often have difficulty with sudden cessation of their medications. Anabolic steroids (abused in bodybuilding) deserve particular mention when speaking of men’s health:

“Some health risks can be produced by long-term use or excessive doses of anabolic steroids. These effects include harmful changes in cholesterol levels (increased low-density lipoprotein and decreased high-density lipoprotein), acne, high blood pressure, liver damage (mainly with oral steroids), and dangerous changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart.” (from wikopedia)

Estimates run as high as 5% of the population when speaking of steroid abuse and addiction. A good site for more information:

http://www.recoveryconnection.org/drug_index/steroids.php

As is often the case in my experience of research into the healing arts, Eastern medicine (translate Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic) has much more integrated understanding of this system than Western Allopathic medicine. Remember those particular glands/ organs that I mentioned at the beginning of this essay? It is interesting that their location coincides pretty remarkably with the Ayruvedic chakra system!

See attached image, from google search on “chakras and endocrine glands”.

 

 

 

 

 

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Microaggressions

Posted on March 1, 2011 by ceremonyheals

this wonderful table is not currently available on line. Apparently, the file got “damaged” whatever that means…Here’s the reference:

aanavi.com/…/racial-microaggressions-in-everyday-life—derald-wing- sue002c-et-al.pdf

Examples of Racial Microaggressions

Theme Microaggression Message

 
Alien in own land

When Asian Americans and Latino

Americans are assumed to be

foreign-born

 

 “Where are you from?”

“Where were you born?”

“You speak good English.”

A person asking an Asian American to teach them words in their native language

 

 You are not American.

 

 

You are a foreigner.
Ascription of intelligence

Assigning intelligence to a person of color on the basis of their race

 

 Asking an Asian person to help with a

math or science problem

 All Asians are intelligent and good inmath/sciences.

 
Color blindness

Statements that indicate that a

White person does not want to

acknowledge race

 

 “When I look at you, I don’t see color.”

 

“America is a melting pot.”

 

“There is only one race, the human race.”

 Denying a person of color’s racial/ ethnic experiences. Assimilate/acculturate to the

dominant culture.

Denying the individual as a racial/ cultural being.
Denial of individual racism

A statement made when Whites

deny their racial biases

 “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends.”

 

“As a woman, I know what you go

through as a racial minority.”

 I am immune to racism because Ihave friends of color.

Your racial oppression is no different than my gender oppression. I can’t be a racist. I’m like you.

 
Myth of meritocracy

Statements which assert that race

does not play a role in life

successes

 

 “I believe the most qualified person should

get the job.”

“Everyone can succeed in this society, if

they work hard enough.”

 People of color are given extra unfairbenefits because of their race.

People of color are lazy and/orincompetent and need to work

harder.

 

 

 

Pathologizing cultural values/

communication styles

The notion that the values and

communication styles of the

dominant/White culture are ideal

 

 Asking a Black person: “Why do you

have to be so loud/animated? Just calm

down.”

To an Asian or Latino person: “Why are

you so quiet? We want to know what

you think. Be more verbal.” “Speak up

more.”

Dismissing an individual who brings up

race/culture in work/school setting

 Assimilate to dominant culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave your cultural baggage outside.

 
Second-class citizen

Occurs when a White person is

given preferential treatment as a

consumer over a person of color

 

 Person of color mistaken for a service

worker

 

Having a taxi cab pass a person of color

and pick up a White passenger

 People of color are servants toWhites. They couldn’t possibly occupy high-status positions.

You are likely to cause trouble and/or travel to a dangerous

neighborhood.

 
Second-class citizen

Occurs when a White person is

given preferential treatment as a

consumer over a person of color

 

 Being ignored at a store counter as

attention is given to the White customer

behind you

“You people . . . ” (and I would add, “some people” “these people”)

 Whites are more valued customers

than people of color.

 

You don’t belong. You are a lesser

being.

 
Environmental microaggressions

Macro-level microaggressions,

which are more apparent on

systemic and environmental levels

 

 A college or university with buildings that

are all named after White heterosexual

upper class males

Television shows and movies that feature

predominantly White people, without

representation of people of color

 

 

 You don’t belong/You won’t succeed

here. There is only so far you can go.

 

You are an outsider/You don’t exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Examples of Racial Microaggressions in Therapeutic Practice

 

 

Theme

  

Microaggression

  

Message
Color blindness

Statements which indicate that

a White person does not

want to acknowledge race

 

 A therapist says “I think you are being too

paranoid. We should emphasize similarities, not people’s differences” when a client of color attempts to discuss her feelings about being the only person of color at her job and feeling alienated and dismissed by her co-workers.

A client of color expresses concern in discussing

racial issues with her therapist. Her therapist

replies with, “When I see you, I don’t see color.”

 Race and culture are not

important variables that affect

people’s lives.

 

 

 

Your racial experiences are not

valid.

 
Denial of individual racism

A statement made when

Whites renounce their

racial biases

 

 A client of color asks his or her therapist about how

race affects their working relationship. The

therapist replies, “Race does not affect the way I

treat you.”

 

A client of color expresses hesitancy in discussing

racial issues with his White female therapist. She

replies “I understand. As a woman, I face discrimination also.”

 

 Your racial/ethnic experience is

not important.

 

 

 

Your racial oppression is no

different than my gender

oppression.

 
Myth of meritocracy

Statements which assert that

race does not play a role in

succeeding in career

advancement or education.

 

 A school counselor tells a Black student that “if you

work hard, you can succeed like everyone else.”

A career counselor is working with a client of color

who is concerned about not being promoted at

work despite being qualified. The counselor

suggests, “Maybe if you work harder you can

succeed like your peers.”

 

 People of color are lazy and/or

incompetent and need to work

harder. If you don’t succeed,

you have only yourself to

blame (blaming the victim).

 
Pathologizing cultural values/

communication styles

The notion that the values and

communication styles of the

dominant/White culture are

ideal

 

 A Black client is loud, emotional, and

confrontational in a counseling session. The

therapist diagnoses her with borderline

personality disorder.

A client of Asian or Native American descent has

trouble maintaining eye contact with his therapist.

The therapist diagnoses him with a social anxiety

disorder.

Advising a client, “Do you really think your problem

stems from racism?”

 Assimilate to dominant culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave your cultural baggageoutside.

 
Second-class citizen

Occurs when a White person

is given preferential

treatment as a consumer

over a person of color

 

 

 

 A counselor limits the amount of long-term

therapy to provide at a college

counseling center; she chooses all

White clients over clients of color.

Clients of color are not welcomed or

acknowledged by receptionists

 Whites are more valued than people of color.

 

White clients are more valued than clientsof color.
Environmental microaggressions

Macro-level microaggressions,

which are more apparent

on a systemic level

 

 A waiting room office has pictures of

American presidents.

 

Every counselor at a mental health clinic is

White.

 You don’t belong/Only white people cansucceed.

 

You are an outsider/You don’t exist.

 

 

 

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Another (final) Tour of Duty?

Posted on January 30, 2011 by ceremonyheals

I thank a friend for the inspiration to write this.  At first, I was going to respond in a personal note to her beautiful and thoughtful exploration of her decision to re-enter the trenches of the corporate world.  Blogging about my beliefs about money and financial security always leaves me feeling very vulnerable. Then I decided, “what the Hell, we Cultural Creatives need to share the inner workings of our lives with one another, and “Those Others” won’t read beyond the first 124 words, anyway!

On Imbolc, I begin a new job in W. Mass as a live-in companion in the home of an elderly couple. Like my friend, this job opportunity appeared with a “poof!”, out of the blue, and left me with some very clear and opposing choices. It takes me away from Vermont, a state which I truly love, but it also takes me out of my own swamp of financial stressors.

I have been journeying into the land of voluntary simplicity since 2003. I don’t have the same class of stressors my friend described. No inherited money, no real estate that has dropped in value, no health insurance nightmares. My financial landscape has been about making ends meet, with free lance skills that I believe are truly valuable (health education and ceremony-making), but that are NOT a clear priority to those out there who will (eventually) be “my market”.

I made a great leap of faith into The People’s Republic of Vermont back in September. I was sooooo excited about the possibilities that I saw: joint teaching with an experienced and talented herbalist, connecting to the progressive health community that is in my back yard in southeast Vermont, working with real movers and shakers, locally and regionally on health care TRANSFORMATION, not simply “reform”. The problem was my great leap was just a little premature, and (as a trapeze artist would say) “I didn’t make the catch”

As my debt increased, I prayed for Spiritual guidance on my next steps.

What felt like free fall was actually that drop into the safety net of Spirit, under the trapeze. Along came the Williamsburg position, which offers room and board and a living stipend that allows me to pay off my current debt load over a period of six months to a year.

That debt is about $5,000

It feels WONDERFUL to be only $5,000 away from a certain kind of freedom that I’m calling “walking off the grid”. Without debt, I can barter for my services, for food, for my living space. Without debt, I can think creatively about accepting payment for services with a local currency, like Greenfield dollars, or (this is a work in progress) “the Vermont sovereign”

Truly, TRANSITION is happening, and we are in the middle of it all. Suffering is option, but change is not. I remain committed to a spiritual practice when I am off center; I return to my mantra that “everything is unfolding EXACTLY the way that it should” as quickly as possible, moving away from the “why me? /victim place. It is challenging to live in the present and to make choices for ourselves and our families based on what our hearts tell us, in a culture that would have us believe we can accurately predict our lives forty years into the future. But the world as I see it doesn’t have many guarantees, anymore. Not year to year, at least. If the economic roller coaster of being a Middle-class American over the last decade has taught us anything, I hope we have learned that much.

My friend’s post also described the anguish and uncertainty of coping with our current health insurance system– high premiums and very little satisfying care in exchange for the exorbitant cost. I remind readers that I continue to make my services available for free-lance health education and coaching. Michael Moore suggested that our current health care mess MAY actually carry a hidden agenda; keeping us tied to a grid of work and debt that makes us unable to think clearly about planning strategies for living deeper, richer lives.

We are all needing to develop a lot more flexibility and resiliency in our choices. Three steps forward, two back. Move to the left. Move to the right…

Ah, yes, NOW I remember, life is a dance!

 

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Musings, for a New Year

Posted on January 1, 2011 by ceremonyheals

Wow, do I appreciate that Hopi elder prophesy when it gets to the part:

“there are those who will be afraid… they will try to cling to the shore.  they will feel that they are being torn apart…
and they will suffer greatly…
But the elders say–
we must let go of the shore… push out to the middle of the river…keep our eyes open… our heads about the water–
see who is with you and CELEBRATE.  We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

It was TEN YEARS AGO that I stood with my son and my partner in the Hynes Convention Center, with Earth Drum Council on stage before me, with our marvelous vision of a dreamed world above us, waiting for that “Y2K” moment.

It was 11:59.  We drummed. We prayed.  Then it was midnight, and we were still drumming. No blackout. No panic.

I remember how beautiful it was to walk the cold streets of downtown Boston over the next half hour.  Everyone there was an optimist.  Everyone there had believed in themselves, their spirits, the heart of the planet, technology or WHATEVER we needed to believe in, enough to Create a Miracle.

Yes I know that now, 10 years later, you will hear folks talk about the HYPE around Y2K.  But I was there; it wasn’t “hype”. As a reminder let me mention that one of the smartest presidents we have ever had– Jimmy Carter– chose to weather this particular storm out in Costa Rica, in a hotel where rich Americans had shown up in droves, paying up to $400 a night for their rooms.

They had all abandoned ship, and took shelter in a third world country where the collapse wouldn’t be so vertiginous a vertical drop. Sheepishly and quietly, they came “back home” and acted as if nothing had ever happened.

10 years post Y2K, I enjoyed a solitary night in the company of many strangers, at Northampton’s First Night.  I traveled alone through the day.  I attended 10 events, in 12 hours.  I had no one to negotiate with over which event we’d go to next. WHAT A BLESSING!  I bumped into folks I knew all day long and loved the greetings, the hugs, the catching up,and the moving on…I drummed, I chanted kirtan, I danced to Pangea, I was enraptured by flamenco dancers, I listened to a twenty something (Seth Glier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3u-6cwR3kw)   sing with more heart than I have heard coming out of a guy in many many years.

This is the nature of our lives, in times of crisis. Crisis as dangerous opportunity. Being In The Moment.

I hope that whatever you all did on New Years fed your hearts and souls.

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Dreaming away the Darkness, in Dummerston

Posted on December 22, 2010 by ceremonyheals

Oh, what a time I had, dancing, Dancing, DANCING the darkest night away!

Simba plays yearly at the Dummerston Grange Hall, and I was honored to become a part of this annual ritual.  Rupa’s elegant facilitation of a beautiful ritual that ended with a serpentine spiral dance left me feeling nourished, hopeful, and oh so joyful that I now call Vermont my home.

For those who heard my PSA regarding my work as a free lance health educator who is “Channeling the Muse”, a few links:

First to my radio show.  I hope it will be available in the new year on local Vermont stations as well as over the internet (1 hour):

http://www.archive.org/details/ChannelingTheMuseOnRegeneration

Second, on to my men’s wellness program (3 min)

http://www.archive.org/details/KingsOfCupsInvitation

Third, for the ladies, the wellness program for women is called “Mermaid Magic” and will begin in earnset in February.   For now, join us LIVE at Eve Christoph’s monthly Women’s Sanctuary Gathering at the MOntague Mass Grange hall, noon to 5 p.m. Next one on January 9th.

More posts, to come!

 

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Posted on November 30, 2010 by KalaViv

Opeyemi’s mission is to empower people through ceremony and health education. Through her work Opeyemi unites traditions of healing & celebration, honoring people’s life passages and allowing them to actively choose healthier lives.

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Kings of Cups: Heart Health, and Beyond

Posted on November 14, 2010 by ceremonyheals

Lesson One:  IT IS VITAL THAT WE PROTECT OURSELVES IN A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT

What this means to men in November of 2010 is that lifestyle behaviors need to support wellness.  We don’t learn these wellness supporting behaviors; not in school, not at home, not through media, not in relationships

Since heart health will mean nothing if we die young (black men have a life expectancy that is 7 years less than white men: white men  have a life expectancy that is 7 years less than white women) let’s talk about the behaviors most likely to increase life expectancy, before getting to the heart of things:

First, practices I intend to do as I age, to stay as healthy as possible:

1.     eat ORGANIC, minimally refined foods as much as you can in your diet

vegetarian, omnivore — lots of argument on which is actually better; may depend on your ethnicity and race.

2.     get sufficient, quality sleep

8 hours is the average needed; your body will let you know what is enough, when you learn to listen to it.

You CAN “catch up” on lost sleep. Make a date with yourself, darken the room, and soundproof it as much as possible, to create a sleep environment during the day hours to replenish.

Magnesium Citrate (or other non-sulfate magnesium) at bedtime, or in the middle of the night if you tend to wake up and are unable to return to sleep is a natural sleep aid without many side effects (if you take too much, you will simply have loose bowels– remember “mild of magnesia”?)

Naps are replenishing;  learn to nap, if you can.

3.     Include some cardiovascular exercise in your life, three times a week for 20- 35 minutes.

That looks like anything that bumps your heart rate up (meaning you should feel a little out of breath, break out in a light sweat,  and your pulse should be elevated then RETURN to normal, within about 10 minutes).  This is only a rough guide; for detailed maximal heart rate calculation and advice, check with a qualified health provider.

4.     Begin these specific dietary supplements, for protection from cancer risk and from the oxidizing effects of aging:

2,000 mg of fish oil a day (has anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory properties)

vitamin C 1,000 to 2,000 mg a day (some folks get acid stomach at the high end). bump up to 2,000 when you have any signs of flu or cold

vitamin D 1,000 mg a day. If you are of African descent, MAKE YOUR HEALTH PROVIDER CHECK YOUR VITAMIN D LEVEL. Men of color are at greater risk for serious vitamin d deficiency (Vitamin D is absorbed from sunlight, through the skin; melanin blocks this absorption). Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to osteoporosis, osteopenia, immune system deficiency, autoimmune diseases, and increased cancer risk. Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include insomnia, loss of appetite, diarrhea, weight loss and impaired vision (mild deficiency) and low immunity, depression, muscle pain, fatigue and fragile bones prone to fractures (severe deficiency).

Concentrated kelp tablets (12.5 mg iodine )a day mg a day.  This is hundreds of times the recommended daily allowance. Iodine is the factor suspected of giving the Japanese their protection from cancer; Japanese eat SEA VEGETABLES that are high in iodine. Naturopathic physicians recognize a connection between IODINE DEFICIENCY and prostate cancer. 50% of men over 50 have prostate cancer. By age 80 that number is considered close to 100% here in the U.S. (you can have a slow growing kind that is present at autopsy, but didn’t actually cause your death). We will discuss prostate cancer and men’s sexual health in the spring in this 9 month program. Begin your supplements, now!

5. Begin The Work of growing healthy interpersonal relationships How to do this will be a large part of this monthly wellness program.

About Your Heart

Okay, now that we’ve covered the basics, the facts on heart disease in the U.S. are quite sobering. Heart disease is our leading cause of death. Stroke is number three, and is most often related to blood pressure problems. Risk for heart attacks involves more issues than what you have likely heard. with the “serious six” (smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight or obese, physical inactivity).

Specifics, of being obese involve that apple shaped body we’ve heard about:

“A large 10-year study found that half of all fatal heart disease cases, and a quarter of all non-fatal cases are linked to being overweight and having a high body mass index (BMI) or large waist…Waist circumference measurements in men were defined as between 94 and 101.9 cm for overweight and more than 102 cm for obese.”

see: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/24/what-two-surprising-factors-can-predict-your-risk-for-heart-disease.aspx

It is more difficult to exercise away this type of “pot belly” but IMPORTANT:

To help get rid of your stubborn belly fat, make sure to minimize (as best as possible) soy products, beer, and other estrogenic foods and try to focus on the estrogenic-fighting foods. Compounds called indoles in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts) are known to be good inhibitors of estrogenic compounds.  In addition, there appears to be benefits in fighting excess estrogens by eating raw nuts and seeds, avocados, fish oil and krill oil, and grass-fed dairy and meat products.  Also, there are many flavones and flavonones in garlic, onions, raw honey, citrus fruits, chamomile and passionflower that fight against estrogenic compounds.

L-arginine is an amino acid that seems to help prevent heart attacks. So does drinking juices high in anti-oxidants (pomegrante is highest). Balding men are at higher risk than men who are not genetically prone to hair loss. Garlic supplements may be helpful.

And then there is the big one: STRESS

When a doctor speaks of stress, s/he is usually speaking of the “fight or flight” adrenalin response in our bodies. This response might have been very adaptive in our 10,000 years as hunters and gatherers, but to respond to a thought, or an every day life situation with an adrenalin rush can contribute mightily to risk for hypertension and other heart disease.

Check out this quote from webMD:

“There is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that chronic emotional stress can be associated with heart disease and early death.Several studies have documented that people without spouses die earlier than married people. (While some might claim this constitutes evidence that emotional stress is actually good for you, most authorities agree that having a spouse actually provides a significant degree of emotional support and stability.) Other studies have shown fairly conclusively that people who have had recent major life changes (loss of a spouse or other close relative, loss of a job, moving to a new location) have a higher incidence of death. People who are quick to anger or who display frequent hostility have an increased risk of heart disease.” 

(above from http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/stresshtdisease.htm)

Here are two good websites with lots of information on tools and techniques for coping with this emotional stress patterning:

www.heartmath.com/

“HeartMath LLC is dedicated to improving health, performance and well-being at home and in the workplace. We provide products and services that enable people to transform stress, better regulate emotional responses and harness the power of heart/brain communication.”

www.paulpearsall.com

“The Heart’s Code: Tapping the Wisdom and Power of Our Heart Energy ”
New York: Broadway Books, 1998
Presents the scientific evidence that the heart literally thinks, remembers, speaks to the brain about its own unique feelings, and connects with other hearts. It presents evidence of cellular memory and that some heart transplant recipients report receiving memories and personality characteristics of their donor. The importance of living, loving, and working from the heart is documented.

Heart Health and our Sexuality

The United States is a skin starved nation. We stop touching our children between ages 9 and 11 (fathers to daughters); and some of us were not touched at all as kids (fathers to sons). We are not taught healthy, sensual touch, and often try to cram all of our touch needs into our sex lives. Sensuality (pleasure in any sensual connection) needs to be separated out from sexuality (pleasure that leads us to sexual arousal and orgasmic release). A massage can be sensual, or sexual.

Paul Pearsall’s “The Pleasure Principle” audiotape series  or his book “The Pleasure Prescription: A New Way to Well Being”gives a welcome antidote to a culture that shames us out of healthy touch and healthy reactions to touch at an early age:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+pleasure++pearsalls&x=0&y=0

After November 18, you will find links at www.archive.org in “audiofiles” under “Kings of Cups” for experiential, meditative exercises to re-connect heart body and soul.

Last piece of wellness information on heart health.

There is increasing controversy on use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol, regarding both short and long term safety. The best website that I have found for unbiased NON-BIGPHARMA SUPPORTED information is this one:

http://www.statinanswers.com/about.htm

Here’s what the website says about itself:

“This website is for informational purposes only. We do not buy or sell any statins. We do not give medical advice and any health concerns should be directed to your doctor. We have not received any money or support from pharmaceutical companies. Comments about the website can be sent to ashley@ latinaproject.com

Latina Health Project
701 Tillery St.
Austin, TX 78702″

Useful references on line and in print:

Here’s a reasonable on line reference for calculating heart rate:

http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Your-Target-Heart-Rate

More stats and info on risk of heart attack (conventional medicine):

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/HeartAttackToolsResources/Heart-Attack-Risk-Assessment_UCM_303944_Article.jsp

Alternative information on wellness and heart health (naturopathic)

www.mercola.com

Good resources for in-depth info on the politics of food and links for their purchase, via Amazon .com (consider politicking at your library to acquire these to “share the wealth”):

The Onmivore’s Dilemna by Michael Polland

http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Pollan-Omnivores-Dilemma-Paperback/dp/B0030JBQDS/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289746681&sr=1-6

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Vegetable-Miracle-Year-Food/dp/0060852569/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289746791&sr=1-9

Bringing it to the Table: on Farming and Food by Wendell Berry

http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Table-Farming-Wendell-Berry/dp/158243543X/ref=pd_sim_b_6

True Food: 8 steps to a Healthier You by Bond, Gordon, and Breyer

http://www.amazon.com/True-Food-Eight-Simple-Healthier/dp/1426205945/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289747014&sr=1-4

Gentlemen (and any women readers), we have begun our journey together!

If you find this information useful, please consider a donation mailed to my P.O. Box, or sent via paypal (see services page, at this website)

Don’t forget to schedule your monthly, 60 minute phone conversation with me. Best times are 9 p.m. weekdays or weekends, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. I will be available with personal coaching/ educational info tailored to your particular heart health issues.

–

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A Different Kind of War Story

Posted on November 11, 2010 by ceremonyheals

At 18, my son joined the army.  He is a highly intelligent, with an oppositional personality.  I expected him to have problems in the service; he did, just not the ones that I had expected.

He did not buckle under the effects of boot camp; that training that turns Boys Into Men.I credit years living in a communal home with fortifying him  to withstand some of the more subtle shaming that is done in the name of soldiermaking.  No problems with communal bathrooms, and being called a faggot for reeiving a copy of a local paper (mailed by me, the hippie mother) that had gay personal ads at the back. No wasting of his stress quotient on the small stuff. That made it easier for him to endure the time in the quonset hut were the soldiers in training were exposed to tear gas to “toughen them up”. He looked stunning in his dress uniform, body buffed after completing Phase One. I hope that moment remains special to him, because it is clearly what he wanted– to be seen and honored as a MAN.

Phase Two, paratrooper training, is where  his soldier dreams became tattered. There was “an unfortunate incident”; some officer made a bad decision and launched a drill in weather where the winds were too high. The men falling out of the planes blew into each other, and got their lines tangled.  There were lots of broken bones, and a thirty percent injury rate (the army tolerates 10% in its training exercises). I imagine that the meaning of “cannon fodder” became more clear to my son then.

If they had stopped at Phase Two, my boy might have gone on to become the soldier that I feared. But in Phase Three, my brilliant, heart-connected, carmel-colored boy was selected for military intelligence training.  This meant that he would stay “stateside” for an additional 18 months, and he would learn Arabic. I heard nothing for two months. Then I received the phone call with the words that I had been both dreading and praying for.

“Mom, I can’t DO this”

Two things had shattered my son’s illusion of The Glory of a Solder’s Life.  Observing the behavior of his superiors, he found no True Men among them.  He saw instead a group of broken, traumatized and dehumanized men incessantly looping stories of their war atrocities; “and, I’m supposed to laugh at these things, Mom… I can’t do it”

Second,  he realized that military intelligence meant more than the cool spying stuff. It meant that he was being trained to torture people.

My son left the army just under the wire. We still have a volunteer, enlisted army with a clause in the fine print that the recruiter’s don’t expect you to read. It allows the enlistee to leave, within the first six months. No prison time owed.

Post Veteran’s Day, with so much being revealed regarding military suicides and broken lives, I celebrate a special kind of courage.   That of opening one’s eyes and heart to make a course correction, rather than risking the loss of one’s soul.

 

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