I just finished The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, M.D. This book provides an overview of cutting edge research that is helping people rewire their brains, often from serious and debilitating situations. Much of this research illustrates how adaptable our brains are, and how misled we have been by our own assumptions of how the brain works. Modern medicine is bumping up against the edges of our Newtonian model of physiology. There are whole new realms of research opening up just because someone asked a question previously thought unthinkable. People are recovering from chronic strokes, learning to see with their tongues, and manipulating robotic arms with their minds. The implications are mind-altering and inspiring, and in fact, will help increase the neuroplasticity of your own mind as well.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sustainability in the home, continued
I read about the idea of the 'post-modern family' today, in which members live under the same roof, yet share little in common interests, activities or intimacy.
I am seeking a different kind of life.
I want to rekindle the hearthfire, rediscover nurture through connection with nature, around and within us. For we are nature, and we are part of all around us. We are organelles in the body of Gaia. When we recognize and nurture this connection, it can feed us. In fact, it needs to feed us, or our souls wither and ache. Only when that energy is flowing are things able to function as they should.
Our society is so virtual; we send our attention far and away from who and what we are. No wonder it's all falling apart.
The foundation needs to be love and conneciton and presence. Jesus talked about this too, and he was spot-on. Or as Franti says, "Love is da shit that makes life grow."
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Spring Quarter: Sustainability in the Home
After spending my first two quarters at Evergreen reinforcing skills and concepts that are useful to me in my professional life, I am looking forward to spending my Spring looking at the microcosm of my family as a place to delve into the ideas of conscious parenting, effective education, somatic awareness and nutrition. These seem to me to be the fundamental parts of sustainable living- the Yin to the Yang of Right Livelihood. Ecological living is at it's heart about finding harmony with the Big Picture. But the Big Picture contains the Little Picture. In fact, it contains all the Little Pictures. Sometimes I think that the Little Picture doesn't get the attention it deserves anymore, and that touches the heart of the modern problem.
I want to spend Spring practicing presence, relating harmoniously, nurturing myself and my family with proper attention and nutritious food. And on this hyperlocal level, I will make the world a better place, one little picture at a time.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Somatics: The Myth of Aging
In his book Somatics, Thomas Hanna, Ph.D. tackles the medical assumption that pain and degeneration are the inevitable result of the aging process. Not only that, he offers a simple plan to recover lost flexibility, balance, and posture. His exercises, he assures us, will bring us back into connection with our lost mobility while reducing pain and discomfort. It almost sounds too good to be true. But is it?
Most people suffer from pain and discomfort at some point in their lives. When this follows an injury, it is easy to watch the play of cause and effect. This can allow us some feeling of control during our healing process as we regain lost function and strength. When we don’t know why we hurt, we can feel like victims of our own bodies. When we ask our doctors for help, they offer drugs for pain, and tell us to buck up and accept our lot. We are growing older, after all. What else should we expect? Everyone knows that bodies wear out eventually.
Hanna challenges this idea. He points out that although this is true for many people today, there are also many circumstances in which people maintain function and vitality right up to the very end. Gerontologists call this “successful aging.” Rather than dismiss such cases as oddities, Hanna thinks we should embrace them as possibilities, and learn how to make our own lives turn out like theirs.
Five case studies are reviewed in the course of the book. In each case, through guided movements, flexibility is restored and pain is alleviated. Several of the cases are quite extraordinary; one woman regained the use of her frozen shoulder after just one treatment, despite almost two unsuccessful years of conventional treatment. Another case involved a man who had not been able to straighten his knee for almost two years. He rediscovered how to control what he had once given up as lost.
Although Somatics is full of information for the professional, it is very accessible to the lay reader as well. He uses clear language that anyone can understand. After describing commonly seen habits of movement, he gives us the keys to unlock our own blockages through simple exercises that almost anyone can do. These slow movements rebalance our structure by bringing awareness to the way we actually move our bodies, and teach us how to develop more balanced ways of moving.
The final chapter includes his basic movement explorations. His exercises are simple, mild, and brief. He offers a series of lessons, in which the reader may explore different areas of the body. By encouraging the reader to reacquaint themselves with their movements, he invites us to take our own steps on this healing path. And if my brief explorations with this work are any guide, change really is possible. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to find a new sense of vitality, movement, and freedom in their body. And really, who isn’t?
Most people suffer from pain and discomfort at some point in their lives. When this follows an injury, it is easy to watch the play of cause and effect. This can allow us some feeling of control during our healing process as we regain lost function and strength. When we don’t know why we hurt, we can feel like victims of our own bodies. When we ask our doctors for help, they offer drugs for pain, and tell us to buck up and accept our lot. We are growing older, after all. What else should we expect? Everyone knows that bodies wear out eventually.
Hanna challenges this idea. He points out that although this is true for many people today, there are also many circumstances in which people maintain function and vitality right up to the very end. Gerontologists call this “successful aging.” Rather than dismiss such cases as oddities, Hanna thinks we should embrace them as possibilities, and learn how to make our own lives turn out like theirs.
Five case studies are reviewed in the course of the book. In each case, through guided movements, flexibility is restored and pain is alleviated. Several of the cases are quite extraordinary; one woman regained the use of her frozen shoulder after just one treatment, despite almost two unsuccessful years of conventional treatment. Another case involved a man who had not been able to straighten his knee for almost two years. He rediscovered how to control what he had once given up as lost.
Although Somatics is full of information for the professional, it is very accessible to the lay reader as well. He uses clear language that anyone can understand. After describing commonly seen habits of movement, he gives us the keys to unlock our own blockages through simple exercises that almost anyone can do. These slow movements rebalance our structure by bringing awareness to the way we actually move our bodies, and teach us how to develop more balanced ways of moving.
The final chapter includes his basic movement explorations. His exercises are simple, mild, and brief. He offers a series of lessons, in which the reader may explore different areas of the body. By encouraging the reader to reacquaint themselves with their movements, he invites us to take our own steps on this healing path. And if my brief explorations with this work are any guide, change really is possible. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to find a new sense of vitality, movement, and freedom in their body. And really, who isn’t?
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