death and wordlessness and the spiritual

Two days ago our dear sweet cat Snowball died and I explained to my daughter how much we look at death from our human perspective.  The regret and sadness and ensuing emotional heaviness in the chest all come from two things:  Our "word world," and a doubt that our existence could be more than just a once-and-never-again-opportunity to appear on earth, which of course causes a massive fear of death. Existing in a "word world" enables us to live with awareness of the past and projecting into the future, instead of living in the present, as animals do (and as we did pre-language).  We look back and remember, we compare it to the present loss, and translate it into future loss.  But the feeling of loss is one-sided because the transiting animal perceives the process totally differently.  Animals are different from us because of their present-oriented consciousness and inability to reflect (although meditation and mindfulness teach us to enjoy fleeting moments of being in the moment- also see previous post on "Now" and previous post on "wordlessness").

I recently read a very helpful description of an animal's death in Martha Beck's Finding Your Way In A Wild New World.  Beck reminds us that "...we suffer more from our thoughts about events than from the events themselves.  Detaching from our verbal thoughts eliminates almost all our psychological suffering."

Here is Beck's description of watching an antelope being killed by a leopard, how she connected with the animal and understood the death process on a different level:  "...The impala's always Wordless awareness is filled with shock and confusion, but absolutely none of the thought-based fears that make my own mortality so frightening to me.  I'm struck by the lack of resistant ideas, like 'This shouldn't be happening!' or 'I'm not ready to die!' or 'My loved ones will be devastated!'  There's just awareness of the strangeness of the situation and disorientation.  Then it feels for all the world as though the impala senses my compassion for it.  The animal seems very relieved to find someone caring about it, joining with it.  I project all the calm and peace I can.  Then I feel a gentle whoosh, and an incredibly sweet sensation of delicious, liberating expansion........Dropping back into language, I can clearly see that the leopard killed the impala.  Then I immediately find truth in the opposite statement: I could just as easily say the leopard 'lived' the impala, taking its stored physical energy into her own body.  Holding these opposites in my verbal mind, I feel language create a strange loop, pushing me beyond paradoxical belief structures and putting me smack-dab back into Wordlessness."

"Death is the stripping away of all that is not you.The secret of life is to 'die before you die' - and find that there is no death."

Eckhart Tolle

back to basics

Storm King

A few years ago our electric lawn mower broke and we replaced it with a little mechanical push mower, of the kind I remember my dad using in the 1960s.  It takes a bit of arm muscle and some double mowing when the grass is longer (and I am getting blisters on my hands), but the mowing is really quiet and non-polluting, and you are bound to spend an hour or so out in the beautiful sunshine - exercise and fresh air all in one.  Granted, the push mower doesn't work for a large field sized lawn.  But then, I saw years ago at the Storm King Art Center outdoor sculpture park that lawns can be partially mowed to great effect (and less energy) - just mow a circulation path and where a sculpture or a sitting are is located, and leave the rest to the wild grasses (the insects will be happy, too). More basics - I recently read that some new age farmers are going back to plowing their fields with the help of horses.  Horses don't break down, they don't pollute, their manure is free and environmentally friendly fertilizer.

Not that everything was better then, but not all innovations are good simply because they are new.  New York City is finally jumping on the cycling bandwagon with its newly inaugurated Citibike rental program.  Biking was never out-of-fashion in Europe, but it's finally in fashion again on this side of the Atlantic.  Also see my previous related post "sitting and more sitting."  Just saying - some of this older and slower technology is not so bad, and provides a bit of exercise in fresh air all-the-while accomplishing something - transportation, plowing, mowing - beats the gym for sure.

the fat myth

Food research of the past years has revealed that food is healthiest when we eat it the way nature made it.  When food becomes a "product," meaning when it comes from a factory and they've done stuff to it, it's no longer so healthy and in many instances even harmful. There are a lot of food myths out there that we/our culture created from the ill gotten belief that man-made stuff would surpass what nature makes because it is based on science.  But the food industry pushes under the rug that it's really after the profit, not your health, and that's what they apply their science to.

So here goes the fat myth:

FAT IS BAD FOR YOU  - "lite products" are better for you.

Hence low fat and no fat everything, cheese, milk, yogurt.  The absurd and unhealthy culminations of this misguided belief system of course are butter substitute and margarine, not much nature left in those.  Hence also the French Paradox - why the northern French don't get fat on all their cream and butter and delicious camembert, and the southern French thrive on the olive oil rich Mediterranean diet.  Sally Fallon, one of my nouveau food idols, has all the scientific back-up information for the skeptics in her oft cited food myth debunker and cookbook Nourishing Traditions.

I switched our whole family back to full fat everything a few years ago (I am only a few steps ahead) and we have neither gained weight nor become sick; as a matter-of-fact, we are all very healthy, love to eat, and never spare a thought on the fat question. 

may God bless the whole world

I love the all-inclusive bumper sticker "May God Bless The Whole World," which some awakened people created in reaction to the restrictive "God Bless America" bumper sticker.  Not that I am against well wishes for this country, but I do not wish any other country any less than this one.  The problem is the distinction between "them" and "us," whereby "we" believe that we are more deserving than "they."  As long as we exclude others from our well wishes, as long as we think we are better or more deserving, as long as we think of ourselves in isolation, we have a problem. My teenage son ran in a Spartan Race this week-end.  It was hot, it was humid, it was long and difficult.  As a mother I was of course worrying and quietly asked "for the most benevolent outcome for his wellbeing and safety"  (see  Tom Moore's The Gentle Way for more on requesting positive outcomes).  He was running with three of his friends.  So then it occurred to me that I wanted of course all of them to be well and safe as well, and I quickly added my quiet request for that.   And then I thought "Gee, actually I would not want anyone in this whole race to be hurt, I really do want all racers to finish safely, and I added yet another qualifier to my "most benevolent outcome wish."

It is misinterpreted Darwinian thinking that one party has to lose for the other to win, or that there isn't enough wellbeing and goodness and abundance available for all of us.  Win-win for all!

fermented foods and good bacteria

Looks like the mainstream is coming around to the fact that microorganisms are not only all around us but also all over our insides, and that that's not necessarily a bad thing (see Michael Pollan's recent article).  As a matter-of-fact, we are realizing now that bacteria are necessary to our gut health and a strong immune system.  So, antibacterial soaps and wipes and sprays weaken our immune systems because the lack of bacteria oversensitizes the body and removes the chance to interact with our environment; and doctors are becoming much more cautious in prescribing antibiotics for human consumption (now we just need the meat industry to come on board and stop feeding the animals preventative antibiotics, trace elements of which remain in  the meat, and which also end up in the water cycle, so ultimately this practice bites us in the behind).  The few times I was treated with antibiotics as a child our pediatrician stressed the importance of eating yogurt every day to replenish the gut bacteria destroyed by the antibiotics.  You may have read of the newest treatment for intestinal inflammations:  fecal bacteriotherapy, the deliberate injection of fecal bacteria from a healthy person to replenish a sick person's gut bacteria.

Turns out that most cultures have traditions of fermenting foods, foods that "turn" and develop lactobacteria, and when eaten regularly, keep replenishing our gut fauna naturally, foods and drinks such as yogurt and kefir, cheese, Sauerkraut and Kimchi, pickled vegetables (not made with vinegar but naturally fermented), beer and wine, cured sausage, sourdough bread and so on.  Consult Sally Fallons' anti establishment cookbook Nourishing Traditions on really easy recipes for fermented vegetables, as well as the new fermented food bible The Art of Fermentation from Sandor Ellix Katz.

Also refer to my recent post on loving your germs for a different facet of the same issue, and keep eating (raw milk!) cheeses, cultured butter, and all those other delicious fermented foods.

pill or self-heal, or the power of beliefs

We used to believe, truly believe, that the earth is flat and that we would fall over the edge if we went too close.  We also believed, truly believed, that we were at the center of the universe.   Heck, we even burnt someone at the stake for saying otherwise.  We believe other things now, but they are as firmly embedded in our minds as those from earlier times we now call silly.  One of them concerns self-healing. We currently don't really believe that we can self-heal, or let's say that we only believe it under certain circumstances (which makes no sense; it either works, or it doesn't).  Usually we quickly run for outside help, doctors, pills, tests, and so forth.  But think about this:  When you have a cold and eat chicken soup or drink tea to feel better, you don't believe that the chicken soup or tea actually heals the cold.  You understand that you/your body heals the cold and the tea or soup simply helps. When you break a leg and get a cast you don't actually believe that the cast is what heals the bone, you do understand that you/your body heals the bone and the cast simply keeps the limb from moving to aid the body in the healing process.  Under those circumstances we all actually agree that we self-heal and that tea, chicken soup and cast are aids or props.   But the belief system is shaky because we still need an outside "expert" with "expert" methods to help us heal more "serious" ailments.  When we take pills or resort to various treatments, we believe all of a sudden that they actually caused the healing. (Yet, when the treatment doesn't work so well, as is often the case, then we are at a loss - but we wouldn't doubt or adjust our belief system).

You may have heard of voodoo deaths, whereby someone actually ends up dying from a combination of their own fear and the combined energy of the village community that does the condemning.  You may have read about the study on placebo knee surgery for arthritic patients, that ended up treating pain as well as actual surgery (!).  The fact is - our beliefs are enormously powerful!  And when we don't heal, it is usually because negative beliefs or residual trauma are in the way and counteract the process (there are a few exceptions, such as afflictions we are born with).  When they get cleared, the body can heal itself.  Check out the recent book Use Your Body to Heal Your Mind by psychologist Henry Grayson to explore this subject further.

:) ;) :(

The emoticon, a newly created word for a new communication platform, is starting to show up in corporate email communications.  The NY Times wrote about it not too long ago.  The word is a contraction of "emotion" and "icon." So much of our communication now goes via email, no longer by telephone conversation or formal letter.  Email is a more casual way of communicating, and we are quick to type away and push the "send" button without pondering the consequences of "quick."

Although we cannot see a person's face during a telephone call, and therefore cannot read facial expression, we can still hear and interpret voice modulation, which tells a lot about a person's feelings or emotions.  A letter is a formally written document.  We take time to hone the wording carefully, and read it over a few times so it sounds just right before sealing the envelope and sticking the stamp on.

An email lacks both these qualities and with it the emotional content which contributes so much to our interpretation.  We don't spend enough time honing the wording of emails because it is a quick and casual communication.  Because emails lack emotion they can easily sound curt, abrasive, even unprofessional or demanding. That's where the emoticon comes in.  People are sensing emails' emotional lack and are adding it back in with the help of emoticons.  Emoticons emulate facial expressions such as a wink ;), a smile :), or an expression of dislike or disapproval :(.  They add the human element back into this form of  electronic communication.

 

food, glorious food

Food is one of my favorite subjects because I grew up in food cultures.  For me food counts as "entertainment," as going to a concert or the movies might for someone else.  While foodies know that food is more than fuel, there is also more to food than the surprise of a clever new taste combination or the goodness of a sunripened peach in August.  Food provides us with energy in more ways than the obvious.  For one, there is the life energy we ingest with our food.  It is most vibrant in freshly plucked and raw foods, and least in processed foods because they are so far removed from their origins as something that actually grew in the ground somewhere sometime.  And with meats a consideration is how the animal was raised and treated, what it ate, and how it found its end.  This all finds its energetic way into our meal.

On the other hand,  food feeds the soul when enjoyed in a harmonious atmosphere and in company.  That kind of food experience literally nourishes us spiritually.  And it sure doesn't have to be fancy to be meaningful.  It can be a picnic, it can be an ethnic festivity, it can be a potluck, or an outdoor meal.  It's more about the overall experience, what goes with it - friends, the setting, the conversation.

Bon Appétit!  Guten Appetit!  Buon Appetito!

CAM

CAM is short for "complementary and alternative medicine" and covers all healing modalities other than the Western allopathic model, or "conventional" medicine (at least for us). Western allopathic medicine is based on a mechanistic model of the human body, where the different body parts can be treated independently from one another by specialists (i.e. the heart by a cardiologist, the kidneys by a nephrologist, the feet by a podiatrist, the mind by a psychologist or psychiatrist).   Diagnosis is based on detailed examination of all visible parts of the physical body.  Treatments are geared towards eliminating or reducing symptoms; they are not geared towards healing the root cause of the matter, because that is not part of the belief system.  

Treatments range from cutting out diseased tissue, to injecting or administering substances that reverse the symptoms (but also usually have side effects - undesirable for the most part).  This is similar to bringing your car in for a check-up and having its oil and windshield wiper fluid checked and refilled, the tire pressure verified, and the spark plugs exchanged.

This model is successful in emergency medicine (accidents, broken limbs) and for acute illnesses, where no time is to be lost to save a life.   It is not so effective for afflictions that have a connection with the psyche (most of them) - did you ever consider that heart disease might have to do with matters of the heart (not the organ, but the emotional heart)?  Here, the model of one-standard-treatment-cures-all does not work so well, as we can see from the varying successes of treating cancer, heart disease, psychological and psychiatric disorders, diabetes, auto-immune diseases and on and on.

CAM works with a different model of the body.  In this model the body is more than a sum of its physical parts, it is a mind-body-spirit entity that exists in an energetic universe.  Some examples of CAM modalities are homeopathy, healing with herbs, acupuncture, reiki, Ayurveda, but also massage therapy, music therapy, yoga and meditation.    These methods all help to rebalance the underlying energy system of the body.  It has been said that about 85% of all illnesses are due to emotional imbalances, which means that the underlying emotional blockage or psychological conflict needs to be resolved to dissolve the physical symptom without reoccurrence.  It has already been acknowledged that lifestyle changes can do wonders - regular meditation reduces stress, a better diet and more exercise give you more energy, and less stress and more harmony in life are beneficial in general.  That's all spiritual stuff.  There is definitely more to our bodies than what we can see.

Please also read my older related post on Healing as a Balancing Act.

what's holistic anyway?

Some people who I have spoken to about Holistic Living think it just means eating your veggies and going to the gym, sort of just leading a pretty healthy life.  But it's more than that. The word "holistic" is a cross between "whole" and "holy." Why "whole?"  Or we could ask: what is not whole and needs to be put together again? Life consists of both the invisible and the visible, the spiritual and the material, soul/mind and body, thought and matter.  These last few centuries we have been living as if the spiritual or invisible part of life (our emotions, beliefs, feelings, spirituality) did not exist.  And we felt proud of it, proud of being "rational" and "analytical," proud of focusing on the "real" stuff we can see, touch, feel, smell and hear, not that wishy washy airy-fairy emotional stuff no one can see and that's not really "real."

Turns out, though, that that stuff we tended to push under the rug is pretty important.  Without it we mistreat and rape nature (because we think it's separate from us), we make war (because we think "they" are different from us), we don't vote (because we think it makes no difference), we treat animals worse than things (because we think they are not sentient beings), we buy as cheap as possible (because we don't think of the people behind the product, i.e. Bangladesh) - or maybe we don't even think at all.

Holistic means putting the two sides together again, the way they belong, the way they are, the way we forgot they always were.