Posted by dj on June 22, 2000, at 10:50:09
In reply to Re: Some 2-brained theories a radical approach to... » dj, posted by CarolAnn on June 22, 2000, at 8:31:31
> dj, I found this very interesting. I think I'm going to try that ice water in the ear thing. Would you maybe want to try it too, so we could >compare notes?
You'll have to get someone else to co-participate in this one, Carol Ann, but thanks for the offer. Overall, I'm in pretty good shape these days, overall. My biggest isssue sometimes is fatigue, physical tightness at times and sometimes feeling a bit disoriented which is why I find some of these studies interesting as I do see mind-body links and am curious about them.
For instance, yesterday I was very fatigued and very stiff. However the day before I had completed an 8 page document on the links between stress and depression as part of a mediation process I'm involved in with the educational institution where I spent much of last year. Dealing with the issue brought up a lot of anxiety and I see links between that and the dis-ease I was experiencing. And I didn't and haven't stretched enough latetly or focused on deep, full breathing enough and hence I get the results that I did despite feeling fabulous the day before...
And I have a lot of issues, finances being a key one, which I am dealing with so lots of pressure and hence all the more need to look after myself, care-fully. I stopped by a friends place yesterday and had him help me with some back stretches as those muscles are really tight. He pointed out how stiff I was and that I was holding my breath, which I wasn't conscious of, when I was supposed to exhale. A habit that does not serve me that I need to work with and be more conscious of, so I don't go there... And it takes consciousness and practice...and repetition...and repitition...and repitition...and repitition... and reptition...until it becomes the norm..
So it's about paying careful attention and making sure I do the things I need to do to keep me well and in balance, consistently.
The work I did at the Haven focused on movement, connection, empathetic unambigious communication and genuine curiosity as keys to staying well and I have come to concur with them. The challenge is to do this all, habitually. And when I do I find I usually am and do well. And when I don't, then I have to deal with the results of not paying attention and any resulting dis-ease...
And I find the descriptions of potential causes and links to places like the thalmus and the vagus nerve fascinating. Certainly when I am feeling off it is as if my being is out of sync on many levels. The folks at the Haven have some interesting models/explanations of how it's all about tapping into and being in our own rythmn and that of the universal energy source, whatever you care to call it... Given that we are just a bunch of vibrating molecules at one level it makes sense. The question is how to get those vibrations in healthy and consistent synchronicity.
Science has some answers and so does spirituality, buddism in particular I belive...though the core of all religious/spiritual teachings always comes back to compassion for self and others and that's really what it's all about, being deeply compassionate and passionate about it in both word and deed.
BTW, here's a great quote that someone posted on the Haven's listserv, last night, which sums some of this up well:
> This poem was written by Mother Teresa and is
> engraved on the wall of her home for children
> in Calcutta.
>
> ¤º°`°º¤o,,,,o¤º°`°º¤o¤º°`°º¤o¤º°`°º¤o
>
> People are often unreasonable, illogical,
> and self-centered;
> Forgive them anyway.
>
> If you are kind, People may accuse you
> of selfish, ulterior motives;
> Be kind anyway.
>
> If you are successful, you will win some
> false friends and some true enemies;
> Succeed anyway.
>
> If you are honest and frank,
> people may cheat you;
> Be honest and frank anyway.
>
> What you spend years building, someone
> could destroy overnight;
> Build anyway.
>
> If you find serenity and happiness,
> they may be jealous;
> Be happy anyway.
>
> The good you do today,
> people will often forget tomorrow;
> Do good anyway.
>
> Give the world the best you have,
> and it may never be enough;
> Give the world the best you've got anyway.
>
> You see, in the final analysis,
> it is between you and God;
> It was never between you and them anyway.Time to go stretch, swim, hotub and then back to it... BTW, I find deeply relaxing in a hot bath for even five minutes or so helps me enormously and I sometimes do it several times a day, when feeling particularly tight. And someplaces or other I once read a reference to a study linking this to be helpful for folks dealing with depression. Relaxing deeply also allows me to go deeper beyond the surface tension to discover the underlying mental tensions, which can lead to great and profound creativity.
Sante,
dj
poster:dj
thread:38054
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000619/msgs/38101.html