Think about it. Our modern society is rife with ugliness, anger and bitterness. From pundits to stand up comics, everyone seems to have an axe to grind and they do it violently and loudly.
I am not naïve. I grew up as a child of the sixties with a liberal mother and a conservative father. Let's just say there were lively conversations at the dinner table. But in the end, they agreed to disagree. Most of the people I knew behaved in the same manner. Yes, there were riots in the streets, but all with one purpose: to end what was considered an illegal war. The two sides were polar opposites and there was violence and rage, but nothing like we see today, where every little thing sparks outrage and violent reaction.
I have been politically active for most of my life, but I have never seen an uglier climate than in the last eight or nine years. It used to be that conservatives and liberals disagreed on principle, on platform issues, but there was a civility to the way political discourse was handled.
One of the most popular television shows today is "Mad Men." I was talking to my 20-year-old niece and her friends who are wild for this program. When I asked them what was so appealing to them, they said, with surprising enthusiasm, that they loved how the men dressed for dinner and the women were feminine and glamorous. They loved how civil people were to each other and found the time period elegant and refined.
Their naïve natures showed because anyone who lived during those years knows that women were second-class in business (and many other areas of life) and much of the 'civility' they loved was simply repression. But it was, in fact, a time when people behaved differently.
Fox News, CNN and other media loudmouths could not exist in a civil world. In a civil world, the flagrant disregard that exists in that kind of inflammatory and sensationalistic media would be shut down as damaging to the fabric of life as we know it.
And what has this to do with food? Everything.
Before we became a culture of dinner in a bucket, we sat down together and ate meals that were prepared at home from fresh food. My grandmother and mother knew nothing about nutrition, but they knew if the food was fresh and they cooked it right, it would taste great and their families would be well-nourished. And so they squeezed fruit, smelled vegetables, examined the eggs, sniffed the milk and cooked dinner from scratch.
Junk food, drive-through and processed foods have been major factors in the degeneration of our modern society.
Big business has made it a mission to undermine conventional wisdom and replace it with fear and confusion. Confusion about food choices, about our political leaders, global warming ... all designed to create a knee-jerk reaction and spread fear and hatred so that the status quo will stay, well, status quo.
But what allows this to thrive? How can they continually pull the wool over our collective eyes?
We are weak, fat and sick ... and easily frightened and controlled as a result.
On this very website, an article ran about President Clinton changing his diet to be plant-based, nearly vegan. The video showed the former president, looking slender, clear-eyed and healthy talking about why he made the change. It's inspiring. But scroll down to the comments and the ugliness of human nature rears its head. Nasty, personal comments from people who do not personally know Mr. Clinton, but feel they have the right to judge his choice of food -- all of them extolling the virtues of their meat, dairy and junk food. Was it because Mr. Clinton was on a soapbox asking all of America to join him in his newfound lifestyle? Nope. It was because their humanity has been affected by the foods they themselves choose.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the belief is held that the foods we choose affect our reactions to life. You may roll your eyes (or post an ugly comment), but think about it for a minute. In more traditional times, food was chosen based on the needs of the people. Warriors ate more animal food to create aggression. Plant foods were eaten when people needed to feel calm, more centered. Specific foods were chosen for their medicinal effects on health. Children were fed different foods than adults; men ate differently than women. All these traditions were designed to create harmony among people.
Food and eating are sexy. Mother Nature was smart. She made eating fun so we would do it. And boy, do we do it now. But I don't think a seven-pound meat burrito, a bacon-wrapped meat loaf, a two-foot hot dog or a hot beef sundae was what she had in mind for us.
Everything we have done to food in modern times is against the very nature of natural. In the name of business, food has been compromised, bastardized, abused, altered and deconstructed to become something that tastes great, but has far-reaching affects on the collective health of humanity and the planet.
Marketers told us to eat junk food to our hearts' content and we are only too happy to oblige. Trouble is, our hearts aren't content at all. All that sugar, fat and salt in those manufactured foods that are the cornerstone of our diets are wearing out our poor, overworked veins, arteries and hearts.
We hear all the warnings. We even worry a little bit. But man, that stuff is yummy. Our little taste buds are so worked up all the time that we have lost our taste for real food. Who can resist potato chips that taste like cheddar cheese, bacon or pizza? Why eat real food with real flavor when chemistry-made flavors are so much more delightful to the palate? How do apples compete with cream-filled Oreos? How can we expect our children to eat oatmeal when their little bodies are fueled by more than 50 grams of sugar in one breakfast of Lucky Charms? It might be easier to get a crack addict off the pipe.
But we're American, descendants of chest-thumping cowboys. We're made of cheeseburgers and steaks! We need our meat! We need it more than Neolithic hunters, more than lions and tigers. If we can't have meat, well, what will happen to civilization as we know it? Would we all become vegan hippie peace-loving terrorists?
The result is that we have become ill and weak; our judgment clouded by saturated fat, sugar and chemicals. We hang on to our childish behaviors long after we know the fact: the way we eat is killing us. We hang on and lash out at those around us who threaten change, who want to shake things up and make life on this planet a better place.
In our clouded view of the world, we take pot shots at people about whom we know nothing, except what the media tells us. We post ugly comments about celebrities on websites so we feel better about our lives. We yell and scream and demand our country back ... from who, we are not sure, but someone scared us and told us we should be angry. Trapped in the fog of junk food, we feel enraged and helpless.
But we don't have to be.
We can change. We can begin to eat food that is fit for human consumption, real food, grown and produced by nature, not manufactured by some multinational corporation. We can grow strong and clearheaded. We can see the truth if we look for it and have the strength to face it.
At the dinner table, eating fresh food, we experience and discover so many truths, from social justice to communication to sharing and community ... the very essence of human life.
Times are changing. People other than the usual experts have been coaxing real food out of the closet, so to speak. People have been making movies, writing books, speaking out, telling the truth about our food. Learning to cook is becoming popular again. People are learning how to respect food, how to treat it, how to use it to create health and make a lighter footprint.
Life is precious. Humanity is wonderful. And in the end, whether we are healthy or sick, fat or fit, we will all die. The question we must ask is: do we want to create misery in the process of living? I say we value the gift of life we have been given and enjoy the ride in a healthy body on a healthy planet. Life is a gift, not to be squandered.
A healthy population can make a difference. A healthy population has a firm hold on their humanity and in that, hatred, cruelty and violence can not thrive. It's worth a try. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Written by
Christina Pirello
Friday, October 8, 2010
CONFRONTING NEGATIVE BIAS
By Dr. Rick Hanson
My previous post used the example of Stephen Colbert's satirical "March to Keep Fear Alive" as a timely illustration of a larger point: humans evolved to be fearful -- since that helped keep our ancestors alive -- so we are very vulnerable to being frightened and even intimidated by threats, both real ones and "paper tigers." With this march, Colbert is obviously mocking those who play on fear, since we certainly don't need any new reminders to keep fear alive.
Some Background
This vulnerability to feeling threatened has effects at many levels, ranging from individuals, couples, and families, to schoolyards, organizations and nations. Whether it's an individual who worries about the consequences of speaking up at work or in a close relationship, a family cowed by a scary parent, a business fixated on threats instead of opportunities, or a country that's routinely told it's under "Threat Level Orange," it's the same human brain that reacts in all cases.
Therefore, understanding how your brain became so vigilant and wary, and so easily hijacked by alarm, is the first step toward gaining more control over that ancient circuitry. Then, by bringing mindful awareness to how your brain reacts to feeling threatened, you can stimulate and therefore build up the neural substrates of a mind that has more calm, wisdom and sense of inner strength. A mind that sees real threats more clearly, acts more effectively in dealing with them, and is less rattled or distracted by exaggerated, manageable, or false alarms.
Let's start with the brain's negativity bias. In this post, I'll focus on why it evolved and how it has been built up in your brain. The next post will explore its consequences. The post after that will zero in on one key consequence: threat reactivity, which has many bad effects, including "paper tiger paranoia." And then following posts will emphasize solutions to these problems, from activating the soothing and recharging parasympathetic nervous system to mobilizing more of your inner resources to address the real challenges our planet faces.
An Evolving Negativity Bias
The nervous system has been evolving for 600 million years, from ancient jellyfish to modern humans. Our ancestors had to make a critical decision many times a day: approach a reward or avoid a hazard -- pursue a carrot or duck a stick.
Both are important. Imagine being a hominid in Africa a million years ago, living in a small band. To pass on your genes, you've got to find food, have sex, and cooperate with others to help the band's children (particularly yours) to have children of their own: these are big carrots in the Serengeti. Additionally, you've got to hide from predators, steer clear of Alpha males and females looking for trouble, and not let other hunter-gatherer bands kill you: these are significant sticks.
But here's the key difference between carrots and sticks. If you miss out on a carrot today, you'll have a chance at more carrots tomorrow. But if you fail to avoid a stick today - WHAP! - no more carrots forever. Compared to carrots, sticks usually have more urgency and impact.
Body and Brain Going Negative
Consequently, your body generally reacts more intensely to negative stimuli than to equally strong positive ones. For example, intense pain can be produced all over the body, but intense pleasure comes only (for most people) from stimulating a few specific regions.
In your brain, there are separate (though interacting) systems for negative and positive stimuli. At a larger scale, the left hemisphere is somewhat specialized for positive experiences while the right hemisphere is more focused on negative ones (this makes sense since the right hemisphere is specialized for gestalt, visual-spatial processing, so it's advantaged for tracking threats coming from the surrounding environment).
Negative stimuli produce more neural activity than do equally intense (e.g., loud, bright) positive ones. They are also perceived more easily and quickly. For example, people in studies can identify angry faces faster than happy ones; even if they are shown these images so quickly (just a tenth of a second or so) that they cannot have any conscious recognition of them, the ancient fight-or-flight limbic system of the brain will still get activated by the angry faces.
The alarm bell of your brain -- the amygdala (you've got two of these little almond-shaped regions, one on either side of your head) -- uses about two-thirds of its neurons to look for bad news: it's primed to go negative. Once it sounds the alarm, negative events and experiences get quickly stored in memory -- in contrast to positive events and experiences, which usually need to be held in awareness for a dozen or more seconds to transfer from short-term memory buffers to long-term storage.
In effect, as I wrote in my last post, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones. That's why researchers have found that animals, including humans, generally learn faster from pain (alas) than pleasure. (For more on the neuropsychology of the negativity bias, and references, see the slide sets at my website.)
That learning from your childhood and adulthood - both what you experienced yourself and saw others experiencing around you - is locked and loaded in your head today, ready for immediate activation, whether by a frown across a dinner table or by TV images of a car-bombing 10,000 miles away.
What to Do?
To keep our ancestors alive, Mother Nature evolved a brain that routinely tricked them into making three mistakes: overestimating threats, underestimating opportunities, and underestimating resources (for dealing with threats and fulfilling opportunities). This is a great way to pass on gene copies, but a lousy way to promote quality of life.
So for starters, be mindful of the degree to which your brain is wired to make you afraid, wired so that you walk around with an ongoing trickle of anxiety (a flood for some) to keep you on alert. And wired to zero in on any apparent bad news in a larger stream of information (e.g., fixing on a casual aside from a family member or co-worker), to tune out or de-emphasize reassuring good news, and to keep thinking about the one thing that was negative in a day in which a hundred small things happened, ninety-nine of which were neutral or positive. (And, to be sure, also be mindful of any tendency you might have toward rose-colored glasses or putting that ostrich head in the sand.)
Additionally, be mindful of the forces around you that beat the drum of alarm -- whether it's a family member who threatens emotional punishment, or in the well-known example, a National Security Advisor (Condoleezza Rice) who warned in 2002 that the smoking gun of evidence for WMDs in Iraq could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. Consider for yourself whether their alarms are valid -- or whether they are exaggerated or empty, while downplaying or missing the larger context of opportunities and resources. Ask yourself what these forces could be getting out of beating that scary drum.
This mindfulness of both the inner workings of your brain and the outer mechanisms of fear-promotion can by itself make you less prone to needless fear.
Then you won't be so vulnerable to intimidation by apparent "tigers" that are in fact manageable, blown out of proportion, or made of paper-mache.
My previous post used the example of Stephen Colbert's satirical "March to Keep Fear Alive" as a timely illustration of a larger point: humans evolved to be fearful -- since that helped keep our ancestors alive -- so we are very vulnerable to being frightened and even intimidated by threats, both real ones and "paper tigers." With this march, Colbert is obviously mocking those who play on fear, since we certainly don't need any new reminders to keep fear alive.
Some Background
This vulnerability to feeling threatened has effects at many levels, ranging from individuals, couples, and families, to schoolyards, organizations and nations. Whether it's an individual who worries about the consequences of speaking up at work or in a close relationship, a family cowed by a scary parent, a business fixated on threats instead of opportunities, or a country that's routinely told it's under "Threat Level Orange," it's the same human brain that reacts in all cases.
Therefore, understanding how your brain became so vigilant and wary, and so easily hijacked by alarm, is the first step toward gaining more control over that ancient circuitry. Then, by bringing mindful awareness to how your brain reacts to feeling threatened, you can stimulate and therefore build up the neural substrates of a mind that has more calm, wisdom and sense of inner strength. A mind that sees real threats more clearly, acts more effectively in dealing with them, and is less rattled or distracted by exaggerated, manageable, or false alarms.
Let's start with the brain's negativity bias. In this post, I'll focus on why it evolved and how it has been built up in your brain. The next post will explore its consequences. The post after that will zero in on one key consequence: threat reactivity, which has many bad effects, including "paper tiger paranoia." And then following posts will emphasize solutions to these problems, from activating the soothing and recharging parasympathetic nervous system to mobilizing more of your inner resources to address the real challenges our planet faces.
An Evolving Negativity Bias
The nervous system has been evolving for 600 million years, from ancient jellyfish to modern humans. Our ancestors had to make a critical decision many times a day: approach a reward or avoid a hazard -- pursue a carrot or duck a stick.
Both are important. Imagine being a hominid in Africa a million years ago, living in a small band. To pass on your genes, you've got to find food, have sex, and cooperate with others to help the band's children (particularly yours) to have children of their own: these are big carrots in the Serengeti. Additionally, you've got to hide from predators, steer clear of Alpha males and females looking for trouble, and not let other hunter-gatherer bands kill you: these are significant sticks.
But here's the key difference between carrots and sticks. If you miss out on a carrot today, you'll have a chance at more carrots tomorrow. But if you fail to avoid a stick today - WHAP! - no more carrots forever. Compared to carrots, sticks usually have more urgency and impact.
Body and Brain Going Negative
Consequently, your body generally reacts more intensely to negative stimuli than to equally strong positive ones. For example, intense pain can be produced all over the body, but intense pleasure comes only (for most people) from stimulating a few specific regions.
In your brain, there are separate (though interacting) systems for negative and positive stimuli. At a larger scale, the left hemisphere is somewhat specialized for positive experiences while the right hemisphere is more focused on negative ones (this makes sense since the right hemisphere is specialized for gestalt, visual-spatial processing, so it's advantaged for tracking threats coming from the surrounding environment).
Negative stimuli produce more neural activity than do equally intense (e.g., loud, bright) positive ones. They are also perceived more easily and quickly. For example, people in studies can identify angry faces faster than happy ones; even if they are shown these images so quickly (just a tenth of a second or so) that they cannot have any conscious recognition of them, the ancient fight-or-flight limbic system of the brain will still get activated by the angry faces.
The alarm bell of your brain -- the amygdala (you've got two of these little almond-shaped regions, one on either side of your head) -- uses about two-thirds of its neurons to look for bad news: it's primed to go negative. Once it sounds the alarm, negative events and experiences get quickly stored in memory -- in contrast to positive events and experiences, which usually need to be held in awareness for a dozen or more seconds to transfer from short-term memory buffers to long-term storage.
In effect, as I wrote in my last post, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones. That's why researchers have found that animals, including humans, generally learn faster from pain (alas) than pleasure. (For more on the neuropsychology of the negativity bias, and references, see the slide sets at my website.)
That learning from your childhood and adulthood - both what you experienced yourself and saw others experiencing around you - is locked and loaded in your head today, ready for immediate activation, whether by a frown across a dinner table or by TV images of a car-bombing 10,000 miles away.
What to Do?
To keep our ancestors alive, Mother Nature evolved a brain that routinely tricked them into making three mistakes: overestimating threats, underestimating opportunities, and underestimating resources (for dealing with threats and fulfilling opportunities). This is a great way to pass on gene copies, but a lousy way to promote quality of life.
So for starters, be mindful of the degree to which your brain is wired to make you afraid, wired so that you walk around with an ongoing trickle of anxiety (a flood for some) to keep you on alert. And wired to zero in on any apparent bad news in a larger stream of information (e.g., fixing on a casual aside from a family member or co-worker), to tune out or de-emphasize reassuring good news, and to keep thinking about the one thing that was negative in a day in which a hundred small things happened, ninety-nine of which were neutral or positive. (And, to be sure, also be mindful of any tendency you might have toward rose-colored glasses or putting that ostrich head in the sand.)
Additionally, be mindful of the forces around you that beat the drum of alarm -- whether it's a family member who threatens emotional punishment, or in the well-known example, a National Security Advisor (Condoleezza Rice) who warned in 2002 that the smoking gun of evidence for WMDs in Iraq could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. Consider for yourself whether their alarms are valid -- or whether they are exaggerated or empty, while downplaying or missing the larger context of opportunities and resources. Ask yourself what these forces could be getting out of beating that scary drum.
This mindfulness of both the inner workings of your brain and the outer mechanisms of fear-promotion can by itself make you less prone to needless fear.
Then you won't be so vulnerable to intimidation by apparent "tigers" that are in fact manageable, blown out of proportion, or made of paper-mache.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Shocking New Statistics On Poverty In America
Shocking New Statistics On Poverty In America
D. Mixner
Poverty As the nation was rivited to the looney bird pastor down in Florida who was going to burn the Koran, a report by the Census Bureau was released on poverty in America. By all rights, this story should have been the lead story around the country. One of the great shames of our country is that we refuse to even acknowledge the poor let alone ease their burden. America is this little white cottage on a street that is beautiful in the front and crammed with our poor in the backyard.
The statistics are simply shocking in scope and are based on the 2009 census figures. Here are some of them:
-In one year the poverty rate in America went from 13.2% to 15%. -that means more than 1 in 7 Americans are now living in poverty and represents nearly 45 million Americans!
-It is the highest single year increase since the records started to be collected in 1959.
-a disgusting 20% of our children live in poverty. That is one of every five children in America are not getting enough food, care and resources.
-This "Great Recession" that we are in will push the 'working age American' poverty rate to the highest level in 50 years. T
The report said it defined the poverty level as:
"In 2008, the poverty level stood at $22,025 for a family of four, based on an official government calculation that includes only cash income before tax deductions. It excludes capital gains or accumulated wealth. It does not factor in noncash government aid such as tax credits or food stamps, which have surged to record levels in recent years under the federal stimulus program."
For my readers of this blog, I challenge you to sit down and write out a monthly budget on $1,012 for a family of four before any deductions from pay checks. Really, take a minute and do it. I attempted it and was so depressed as a single person attempting to live on that much a month.
Finally, the report says it is only going to get worse:
"Beginning next year, the government plans to publish new, supplemental poverty figures that are expected to show even higher numbers of people in poverty than previously known. The figures will take into account rising costs of medical care, transportation and child care, a change analysts believe will add to the ranks of both seniors and working-age people in poverty."
D. Mixner
Poverty As the nation was rivited to the looney bird pastor down in Florida who was going to burn the Koran, a report by the Census Bureau was released on poverty in America. By all rights, this story should have been the lead story around the country. One of the great shames of our country is that we refuse to even acknowledge the poor let alone ease their burden. America is this little white cottage on a street that is beautiful in the front and crammed with our poor in the backyard.
The statistics are simply shocking in scope and are based on the 2009 census figures. Here are some of them:
-In one year the poverty rate in America went from 13.2% to 15%. -that means more than 1 in 7 Americans are now living in poverty and represents nearly 45 million Americans!
-It is the highest single year increase since the records started to be collected in 1959.
-a disgusting 20% of our children live in poverty. That is one of every five children in America are not getting enough food, care and resources.
-This "Great Recession" that we are in will push the 'working age American' poverty rate to the highest level in 50 years. T
The report said it defined the poverty level as:
"In 2008, the poverty level stood at $22,025 for a family of four, based on an official government calculation that includes only cash income before tax deductions. It excludes capital gains or accumulated wealth. It does not factor in noncash government aid such as tax credits or food stamps, which have surged to record levels in recent years under the federal stimulus program."
For my readers of this blog, I challenge you to sit down and write out a monthly budget on $1,012 for a family of four before any deductions from pay checks. Really, take a minute and do it. I attempted it and was so depressed as a single person attempting to live on that much a month.
Finally, the report says it is only going to get worse:
"Beginning next year, the government plans to publish new, supplemental poverty figures that are expected to show even higher numbers of people in poverty than previously known. The figures will take into account rising costs of medical care, transportation and child care, a change analysts believe will add to the ranks of both seniors and working-age people in poverty."
Monday, August 30, 2010
ON THE ABSENT MOTHER
Dr.ART JANOV- Author
There is an article today about stressed out babies who get anxious even when mother is absent for two minutes.(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1305892/Six-month-old-babies-stressed-ignored-minutes-mothers.html Their effects last until the next day. Levels of stress hormones soar. Conclusion: babies need their mothers. Oh wait! Maybe it is more than that. Yes, we need mother and father love but what happens when the absenteeism goes on and on?
There is just so much stress we can take and then what happens? Primal Pain. That is, the system has reached its asymptote and shuts down. Repression begins its life. So what? We now have a secret life; that is, there are pains and all of their concomitants, stress hormones, less or more thyroid, less natural killer cells; go on agitating and aggravating the physical system. And when pain gets compounded time after time, neglect, abandonment, violence, the underground life begins to wear the system down, attacking the most vulnerable organs. It is not one pain but pain piled on top of more pain, the daily threats, ignoring, left alone, and you can add your own life here. What is bad is that we do not often know we are in pain but the body knows. It speaks volumes, screaming through higher brain amplitude, faster brain frequency, higher cortisol, and so on. That is why we not only take the word of patients but measure them every day before and after sessions. The patient does not necessarily lie but she is often contradicted by her measurements.
I never knew that my frenetic and constant movements as a kid, the going and going, was the result of pain; I never felt it. I acted it out. But if one had looked at cortisol levels we would have understood. I doubt in my day we could have even measured cortisol. I just got my high-school records for my biography. Note after note says about me, “nervous.”
Isn’t it wonderful that the human system has a governor that shuts down many functions so we can survive? We become unconscious to survive. That is the miracle. So we have a hyperactive brain; is that so terrible.? Only if you don’t mind dying of Alzheimers or a stroke. That hyperactive brain is not normal. It is a reaction, a survival tactic to keep us unconscious so we can navigate in the world. It is super active due to repression. How do we know? There are major changes in the brain when patients have done this therapy. We have done four different brain studies (UCLA, Copenhagen, Rutgers, and in-house). The results are consistent. Moreover, we see great changes just after a session when the body temp, blood pressure and brain activity diminish. The body and brain are all of a piece. They are related, so when we measure just one aspect, say, blood pressure, we are missing out on the relationships to other aspects.
What is important about the above is that we mistake the deviations occasioned by the imprinted pain as bad and unhealthy. So then we have the biofeedbackers trying to correct the person’s brainwaves when they should be what they are. Or we do other measures to break down blood pressure, or we do EMDR to change anxiety states without once asking why are they deviated? Why is that heart racing? It is trying to survive against the onslaught of pain. It should race.
I was being slight facetious about dying of a brain disease but not entirely. When you see, as I have, month after month, year after year, patients reliving enormous early pains, you realize how the brain has to cave in eventually. No organ can withstand that pressure forever. Reliving and feeling is life saving.
There is an article today about stressed out babies who get anxious even when mother is absent for two minutes.(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1305892/Six-month-old-babies-stressed-ignored-minutes-mothers.html Their effects last until the next day. Levels of stress hormones soar. Conclusion: babies need their mothers. Oh wait! Maybe it is more than that. Yes, we need mother and father love but what happens when the absenteeism goes on and on?
There is just so much stress we can take and then what happens? Primal Pain. That is, the system has reached its asymptote and shuts down. Repression begins its life. So what? We now have a secret life; that is, there are pains and all of their concomitants, stress hormones, less or more thyroid, less natural killer cells; go on agitating and aggravating the physical system. And when pain gets compounded time after time, neglect, abandonment, violence, the underground life begins to wear the system down, attacking the most vulnerable organs. It is not one pain but pain piled on top of more pain, the daily threats, ignoring, left alone, and you can add your own life here. What is bad is that we do not often know we are in pain but the body knows. It speaks volumes, screaming through higher brain amplitude, faster brain frequency, higher cortisol, and so on. That is why we not only take the word of patients but measure them every day before and after sessions. The patient does not necessarily lie but she is often contradicted by her measurements.
I never knew that my frenetic and constant movements as a kid, the going and going, was the result of pain; I never felt it. I acted it out. But if one had looked at cortisol levels we would have understood. I doubt in my day we could have even measured cortisol. I just got my high-school records for my biography. Note after note says about me, “nervous.”
Isn’t it wonderful that the human system has a governor that shuts down many functions so we can survive? We become unconscious to survive. That is the miracle. So we have a hyperactive brain; is that so terrible.? Only if you don’t mind dying of Alzheimers or a stroke. That hyperactive brain is not normal. It is a reaction, a survival tactic to keep us unconscious so we can navigate in the world. It is super active due to repression. How do we know? There are major changes in the brain when patients have done this therapy. We have done four different brain studies (UCLA, Copenhagen, Rutgers, and in-house). The results are consistent. Moreover, we see great changes just after a session when the body temp, blood pressure and brain activity diminish. The body and brain are all of a piece. They are related, so when we measure just one aspect, say, blood pressure, we are missing out on the relationships to other aspects.
What is important about the above is that we mistake the deviations occasioned by the imprinted pain as bad and unhealthy. So then we have the biofeedbackers trying to correct the person’s brainwaves when they should be what they are. Or we do other measures to break down blood pressure, or we do EMDR to change anxiety states without once asking why are they deviated? Why is that heart racing? It is trying to survive against the onslaught of pain. It should race.
I was being slight facetious about dying of a brain disease but not entirely. When you see, as I have, month after month, year after year, patients reliving enormous early pains, you realize how the brain has to cave in eventually. No organ can withstand that pressure forever. Reliving and feeling is life saving.
Friday, July 9, 2010
I WILL BE HAPPY WHEN
MY FRIDAY STORY
I WILL BE HAPPY WHEN ... revisited
by Jared Yellin
Over the past couple of weeks, our already dismal economy has become far worse than any of the "experts" could have ever predicted. We are in the process of witnessing the "Pearl Harbor" of the financial world, as articulated by Warren Buffet.
Although this has been devastating for all Americans, it has also been a very humbling experience for our nation, one that has made us realize that we are not invincible when it comes to the fundamental problems in our country. It has been a wake up call and a lesson learned, but my fear is that many of us are processing this adverse occurrence in the totally wrong light.
We have seen our bank accounts, retirement funds, financial portfolios and any other type of investment drop significantly, but what I ask you to consider is that although our NET WORTH has been on the decline, does this have any lasting effect to your SELF WORTH? What is your identity and why have we become a nation of people whose identity is purely aligned with their finances?
I think the key to coping with these unfortunate circumstances is to really think about your definition of "success." In the past, this term has been associated with wealth, possessions, and luxuries. People gawk at the ultra wealthy and yearn to live just one day in their lives.
Although the old adage that "money does not buy happiness," is a commonplace expression to almost every single person in the world, these words have become a commodity whose value has been diminished. The new national anthem for our country unfortunately has become, "I will be happy when I make a million dollars, purchase a Mercedes, buy a mansion, own a new pair of designers jeans, take a vacation, etc."
We are constantly basing our fulfillment on the external, when we have all of the tools within our soul to appreciate who we are. When will we realize that it is not what we do not have that makes us unhappy, but rather what we have already achieved that should bring joy to our lives? The point that I am trying to make is that no one has escaped this financial debacle, but when we actually take the time to evaluate our self-inventory, we realize that the only change occurred within our bank accounts. Hopefully, we still have our health, our family, and most importantly ourselves.
Wealth can be lost within a fleeting moment as seen by our lack of control in the current economic decline, but we are the directors of our own self worth and well-being and we can create an incredible life if we so choose. This outcome, unlike a fluctuating economy, is within our control.
Rather than focusing on when we will hit the bottom of the stock market, I challenge all of you to focus your energies on ways to reach the pinnacle of your personal apex. Everything depends on the view of the beholder and whether you allow your circumstances to create your identity or if you allow your identity to create your circumstances.
I have my own personal definition of success, but prior to unveiling this for all of you to read, I think that it is important for you to realize I am driven to achieve a certain monetary status to enable me to spread my message throughout the world, but this drive for money will never consume my soul nor taint my identity. I will always focus on the who I am as opposed to the who I am not and in turn my definition looks like this; Success is measured by pursuing your unique mission in this world with a burning desire to make a difference and leave a legacy in order to be proud of the who I am and the what I stand for.
Charles F. Bunning, says it best: "If all the gold in the world were melted down into a solid cube, it would be about the size of an eight room house. If a man got possession of all that gold -- billions of dollars worth -- he could not buy a friend, character, peace of mind, clear conscience or a sense of eternity."
So I understand that this message may not be well received since most of the audience will have experienced incredibly adverse effects as a result of the deteriorating economy, but I do believe that this message possesses a substantial amount of value if read and re-read in order to make it your own. I also realize that some of my audience may not feel the aftermath of the current conditions because they are young, wealthy or a variety of other reasons, but what I do know is that you probably have experienced our new national anthem, "I will be happy when.," therefore, regardless of the way that you interpret this message, I want you to realize that everything that you ever need in life stares back at you from the mirror every single day.
All of the riches in the world will never truly provide you with the ability to sustain unconditional happiness because that comes from within. My challenge to all of my readers and anyone else who has the opportunity to digest this message is to take some time each day and remind yourself that the world around you may be falling apart, but the world within you is just beginning to take form.
I WILL BE HAPPY WHEN ... revisited
by Jared Yellin
Over the past couple of weeks, our already dismal economy has become far worse than any of the "experts" could have ever predicted. We are in the process of witnessing the "Pearl Harbor" of the financial world, as articulated by Warren Buffet.
Although this has been devastating for all Americans, it has also been a very humbling experience for our nation, one that has made us realize that we are not invincible when it comes to the fundamental problems in our country. It has been a wake up call and a lesson learned, but my fear is that many of us are processing this adverse occurrence in the totally wrong light.
We have seen our bank accounts, retirement funds, financial portfolios and any other type of investment drop significantly, but what I ask you to consider is that although our NET WORTH has been on the decline, does this have any lasting effect to your SELF WORTH? What is your identity and why have we become a nation of people whose identity is purely aligned with their finances?
I think the key to coping with these unfortunate circumstances is to really think about your definition of "success." In the past, this term has been associated with wealth, possessions, and luxuries. People gawk at the ultra wealthy and yearn to live just one day in their lives.
Although the old adage that "money does not buy happiness," is a commonplace expression to almost every single person in the world, these words have become a commodity whose value has been diminished. The new national anthem for our country unfortunately has become, "I will be happy when I make a million dollars, purchase a Mercedes, buy a mansion, own a new pair of designers jeans, take a vacation, etc."
We are constantly basing our fulfillment on the external, when we have all of the tools within our soul to appreciate who we are. When will we realize that it is not what we do not have that makes us unhappy, but rather what we have already achieved that should bring joy to our lives? The point that I am trying to make is that no one has escaped this financial debacle, but when we actually take the time to evaluate our self-inventory, we realize that the only change occurred within our bank accounts. Hopefully, we still have our health, our family, and most importantly ourselves.
Wealth can be lost within a fleeting moment as seen by our lack of control in the current economic decline, but we are the directors of our own self worth and well-being and we can create an incredible life if we so choose. This outcome, unlike a fluctuating economy, is within our control.
Rather than focusing on when we will hit the bottom of the stock market, I challenge all of you to focus your energies on ways to reach the pinnacle of your personal apex. Everything depends on the view of the beholder and whether you allow your circumstances to create your identity or if you allow your identity to create your circumstances.
I have my own personal definition of success, but prior to unveiling this for all of you to read, I think that it is important for you to realize I am driven to achieve a certain monetary status to enable me to spread my message throughout the world, but this drive for money will never consume my soul nor taint my identity. I will always focus on the who I am as opposed to the who I am not and in turn my definition looks like this; Success is measured by pursuing your unique mission in this world with a burning desire to make a difference and leave a legacy in order to be proud of the who I am and the what I stand for.
Charles F. Bunning, says it best: "If all the gold in the world were melted down into a solid cube, it would be about the size of an eight room house. If a man got possession of all that gold -- billions of dollars worth -- he could not buy a friend, character, peace of mind, clear conscience or a sense of eternity."
So I understand that this message may not be well received since most of the audience will have experienced incredibly adverse effects as a result of the deteriorating economy, but I do believe that this message possesses a substantial amount of value if read and re-read in order to make it your own. I also realize that some of my audience may not feel the aftermath of the current conditions because they are young, wealthy or a variety of other reasons, but what I do know is that you probably have experienced our new national anthem, "I will be happy when.," therefore, regardless of the way that you interpret this message, I want you to realize that everything that you ever need in life stares back at you from the mirror every single day.
All of the riches in the world will never truly provide you with the ability to sustain unconditional happiness because that comes from within. My challenge to all of my readers and anyone else who has the opportunity to digest this message is to take some time each day and remind yourself that the world around you may be falling apart, but the world within you is just beginning to take form.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Beating Children Is Still Legal In Twenty U.S. States
Beating Children Is Still Legal In Twenty U.S. States
In 20 states of the United States, it is still legal for teachers to paddle their students. That is a shocking statistic. Even when in prison, criminals are protected by law from being physically abused by those in a position of authority over them. But for our children, no such protection is available.
We are one of the few countries to allow such treatment. 102 countries, including Canada, Australia, the countries of Western Europe and the U.K., have outlawed corporal punishment in schools. Within the United States, plenty of organizations oppose corporal punishment, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Consider a couple of examples: a high school coach in Georgia knocked a student's eyeball out of its socket to punish the student for fighting with another student. In Texas, a 14-year-old autistic special education student was smothered to death by his teacher's "restraint." The kid was placed face down on the floor and when he struggled, his teacher sat on his shoulders to keep him still. He sufficated to death.
Because of these and many other instances of child abuse at the hands of teachers, Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D - NY) will introduce a bill in the House this week to deny federal funding to schools that use corporal punishment. For the first time in over 18 years, Congress held hearings in April, 2010, on the use of corporal punishment in schools, and this bill was the result of those hearings.
Here's what was revealed: every twenty seconds of the school day, a child is beaten by an educator. Every four minutes, an educator beats a child so badly that she seeks medical attention. The U.S. Department of Education reported that in the 2006 - 07 school year, 223,190 students were the victims of such school violence, and over 20,000 of these young people had to seek medical attention.
These are outrageous statistics, and we applaud Rep. McCarthy for introducing her bill. It is time for the United States to join the rest of the developed world and implement a federal ban on corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is wrong. The American Psychological Association says corporal punishment may do far more than inflict physical pain; it may also lower self-esteem, instill hostility and teach children that physical violence is an acceptable problem-solving tool. And it doesn't work.
Isn't it time that we outlawed this barbaric practice in the United States?
Judy Molland
In 20 states of the United States, it is still legal for teachers to paddle their students. That is a shocking statistic. Even when in prison, criminals are protected by law from being physically abused by those in a position of authority over them. But for our children, no such protection is available.
We are one of the few countries to allow such treatment. 102 countries, including Canada, Australia, the countries of Western Europe and the U.K., have outlawed corporal punishment in schools. Within the United States, plenty of organizations oppose corporal punishment, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Consider a couple of examples: a high school coach in Georgia knocked a student's eyeball out of its socket to punish the student for fighting with another student. In Texas, a 14-year-old autistic special education student was smothered to death by his teacher's "restraint." The kid was placed face down on the floor and when he struggled, his teacher sat on his shoulders to keep him still. He sufficated to death.
Because of these and many other instances of child abuse at the hands of teachers, Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D - NY) will introduce a bill in the House this week to deny federal funding to schools that use corporal punishment. For the first time in over 18 years, Congress held hearings in April, 2010, on the use of corporal punishment in schools, and this bill was the result of those hearings.
Here's what was revealed: every twenty seconds of the school day, a child is beaten by an educator. Every four minutes, an educator beats a child so badly that she seeks medical attention. The U.S. Department of Education reported that in the 2006 - 07 school year, 223,190 students were the victims of such school violence, and over 20,000 of these young people had to seek medical attention.
These are outrageous statistics, and we applaud Rep. McCarthy for introducing her bill. It is time for the United States to join the rest of the developed world and implement a federal ban on corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is wrong. The American Psychological Association says corporal punishment may do far more than inflict physical pain; it may also lower self-esteem, instill hostility and teach children that physical violence is an acceptable problem-solving tool. And it doesn't work.
Isn't it time that we outlawed this barbaric practice in the United States?
Judy Molland
Friday, June 4, 2010
DEATH AT SIXTEEN.
Sixteen-year-old Christian Taylor was found hanged in his bedroom on Monday, May 31: Memorial Day, a school holiday, which for most kids means the start of summer.
Taylor was a freshman at Grafton High School in Yorktown, VA. What's especially tragic about this suicide is that the teenager had complained to school and law enforcement officials about being bullied, but nothing was done to stop his tormentor. According to York-Poquosen Sheriff Sgt. Dennis Ivey, authorities had also looked into complaints by Taylor's mother, Alise Williams, weeks ago, but turned the matter over to his school after finding no crime had been committed. No action was taken, and Taylor's tormentor remained at school.
Because of Taylor's death, Ivey said, authorities are now re-examining the case to see if any laws were broken.
How many lost teenage lives are we going to have to witness before school authorities take this issue seriously? In Massachusetts, less than six months ago, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince hanged herself after being assaulted and bullied by classmates. Currently six teenagers face charges in that case.
And now here's another one. Teenagers can be both mean and cruel, as well as scared and extremely vulnerable. Above all, they need guidance from adults, even when (maybe especially when) they act as if they hate all authority. Every school has a legal responsibility to deal with bullying that occurs on school property and, in many cases, between school and home.
What happened in Taylor's case? According to his mom, "Chris was a good kid…. He had the usual teenage problems, the awkwardness and all, but he had a girlfriend and friends and they're devastated." She described her son's bullying as "just a lot of taunting and saying mean stuff" but added that in one instance, his tormentor, a classmate, told her son to "go ahead and commit suicide and get it over with."
Meanwhile, the bully "is still in school," said Williams. "They have not suspended him. He has not been expelled. And he doesn't just target my son, he's targeted quite a few others."
As someone who has been teaching teenagers for over twenty years, I know that someone, if not several people, at that high school had to know what was going on, but chose not to see. It's easy to do, since teachers are all so overworked and pressured these days. But that's no excuse. Teenagers can be a tough bunch, but it's also pretty easy to read them.
Bullying is a serious social problem. According to the National School Safety Center, one in seven children becomes a victim of bullying at school. Wake up, schools! Getting good test scores is nice; saving lives is crucial.
Taylor was a freshman at Grafton High School in Yorktown, VA. What's especially tragic about this suicide is that the teenager had complained to school and law enforcement officials about being bullied, but nothing was done to stop his tormentor. According to York-Poquosen Sheriff Sgt. Dennis Ivey, authorities had also looked into complaints by Taylor's mother, Alise Williams, weeks ago, but turned the matter over to his school after finding no crime had been committed. No action was taken, and Taylor's tormentor remained at school.
Because of Taylor's death, Ivey said, authorities are now re-examining the case to see if any laws were broken.
How many lost teenage lives are we going to have to witness before school authorities take this issue seriously? In Massachusetts, less than six months ago, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince hanged herself after being assaulted and bullied by classmates. Currently six teenagers face charges in that case.
And now here's another one. Teenagers can be both mean and cruel, as well as scared and extremely vulnerable. Above all, they need guidance from adults, even when (maybe especially when) they act as if they hate all authority. Every school has a legal responsibility to deal with bullying that occurs on school property and, in many cases, between school and home.
What happened in Taylor's case? According to his mom, "Chris was a good kid…. He had the usual teenage problems, the awkwardness and all, but he had a girlfriend and friends and they're devastated." She described her son's bullying as "just a lot of taunting and saying mean stuff" but added that in one instance, his tormentor, a classmate, told her son to "go ahead and commit suicide and get it over with."
Meanwhile, the bully "is still in school," said Williams. "They have not suspended him. He has not been expelled. And he doesn't just target my son, he's targeted quite a few others."
As someone who has been teaching teenagers for over twenty years, I know that someone, if not several people, at that high school had to know what was going on, but chose not to see. It's easy to do, since teachers are all so overworked and pressured these days. But that's no excuse. Teenagers can be a tough bunch, but it's also pretty easy to read them.
Bullying is a serious social problem. According to the National School Safety Center, one in seven children becomes a victim of bullying at school. Wake up, schools! Getting good test scores is nice; saving lives is crucial.
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