In February I had a concerned mother contact me about her toddler with extreme constipation. The little guy was suffering terribly, and so was the mother in trying to find ways for him to be more comfortable. We did several Skype consultations beginning in February and after an initial remedy were able to find a long lasting solution and he has been doing great since. Constipation is painful and unpleasant Anyone is technically constipated if they don't pass stools once, or more than once, per day, and the average person goes every day or every other day. In cases of extreme constipation there is also pain and very large, hard stools. This little guy of barely 3 years was having a terrible time and only passing stools every 7 to 10 days! His stools when they did pass were very large or hard and had a terrible smell. It was extremely painful so the little guy was developing trauma and many fears about going. He was fidgety, whiny and clingy and super active or wanting to nurse just before going and could only really go if he was standing up or moving, so getting him to go to the bathroom was becoming a big ordeal that took a lot of time and effort on the mom's part. The doctors suggested he may have a sluggish bowel syndrome and his mother was trying several medications such as Restorolax and Glycerin suppositories to help him go. As well she had tried several homeopathic remedies and cell salts over the fall and winter. Basically everything that after our first session I would have recommended she had already tried and nothing worked or if it did, not for long. This included Phosphorus which I felt was the child's most prominent constitutional type. Exploration, a foundation of the case taking session We explored the mother's experience while pregnant and giving birth as this makes a strong impression on the child for the first 4 to 7 years, as well as diet and other symptoms that occur along with the constipation and in general. We also explored as much as possible his experience of constipation and of his general nature. This is limited since I can't really ask him much and was, along with his mother, only able to observe him. He is an only child and during the first period of his life, including gestation, his mother was constantly moving from apartment to apartment, almost every month. Once he became mobile it was important to make each new place safe and adapt the environment to the little toddler's needs. They had been more settled for almost a year which was helping. Whenever they came back home he would immediately want to nurse and had always been very avid about being nursed. I asked about his play and what he preferred to do. He either wanted to play monsters and be loud, destructive, powerful and scary and would like to hit things. This game involved a lot of chasing. Or he liked to play babies and be soft and cuddly and take care of each other. When playing with other kids he liked to be the centre of attention, a leader, telling others what to do, was very extroverted and could even be pushy sometimes. He would like to take care of his mother when she was unwell, he would say that he could make her calm or happy. The mother found that he was very sensitive to noises. He liked to be home, to be warm and could be very grumpy in the morning if the mother was not there when he woke up. He was also likely to get very sad, as if he was misunderstood, if he was scolded or reprimanded and did not like when others went faster than his rhythm, he would get stressed and angry at this. There were some main physical symptoms as well such as having a very hot head and sweating before falling asleep on his head and neck. He also had had dental surgery for several dental cavities and cradle cap which smelled sour. The dental procedure was addressed separately with several remedies for the bruising, anesthesia and for the mom's anxiety for her son. The first remedy selection In March, we decided to try Silicea 30c for a period of time as it fit the symptoms we had been able to explore so far. After a month things were improving but the laxatives were still required, although less often and when they stopped working she stopped using them altogether. In the follow up I could see there was less of a need to be comforted, he was more independent and happier and passing stool was more comfortable. This was what we had hoped to see as a good sign of general improvement, more independence and a movement of separation from his mother, although he was still dependent on the nursing. After a couple of months he was able to go a little every day, although only when he was sleeping, and this indicated there was less trauma about going. At this point he was starting to nurse less often and be less 'sticky' to mom and they were able to be more relaxed and to get out of the house more. The mom started to look much better as well I noticed! In playing with other kids, he was less pushy, not needing to lead so much, and was less emotional about not getting his way, and he could play on his own as well more. A deeper sense of spooky In May, I did another long follow up and was happy to be able to learn more about the little guy's inner world and some of his specific physical symptoms were more clear as well. He had had a nasty stomach bug and although by then he could pass stools while awake also, since the bug he was going less often again. The clinginess returned and there were tantrums if either parent left him. It was really important to him that they all stay together. His mother tried a few homeopathic remedies during the illness, and went back to using the laxatives. He was anxious, crying and had insomnia related to daycare, he would cry for a half hour if he had to go there and this was new. He needed to be physically close and would scream, "I need mommy." We then explored his play again which revealed a fuller picture of his obsession with scary things. He was fascinated by zombies, monsters, Scooby-Doo, vampires and with running away and hiding. I could chat with him a little more via the computer connection this time and there was something about hearing him describe these things that was a bit creepy so I could consider as unusual and important to his uniqueness. In his play he would vacillate between being scary to being a cute cuddly cat that needed to be petted and to get loving attention, then to wanting to eat his mom and being a big T-Rex that roars. And again, when he played with other kids his favourite thing was to be chased, and this now had a context. He was re-enacting the scary game with them about monsters, fear and running away to hide and be safe. A second remedy selection So this time I was able to really see the little guy and feel into his inner experience in a more global way. I found a spider remedy that normally would not be considered for constipation issues: Rectum: Inactivity, constipation, difficult stool, as from constriction in rectum Stool: Black, forcible like an explosion, with perspiration. But also covered the other main physical symptoms: Generals: Chilly but heat flushes, sweaty face. Extremes of tension, spasticity, constriction and prostration. Cramp like unbearable pains, coming and going in waves like labour pains, worse with motion. Yet patient is so restless that he cannot lie still. And also the personality traits he expresses: Spider themes: Cunning, plotting. Active, hurried, restless. Hysterical, complaining. Stinging pains. Chilly. Extreme sensitivity. Type of attack: Caught and trapped; deceit; cunning; impulsive, violence; sudden fear of death; kill and hide. And his obsession with monsters which is when I was really certain this might be a great remedy fit for the little guy: AFADH: Themes of mastering the environment; manipulation; vibration; provocation; monsters; powerful and wild animals. Fear of imminent death. I can't know for sure but his need to be home, to be with his parents, and to care for them could be related to the theme of outcast from the proving: Proving of Latrodectus: being an outcast, one who is suddenly rejected by the group; a psychic sensitivity in general and specific sensitivity to danger. The outcome? He took this remedy once at the beginning of June and I heard back from the mom in September. No news is good news in this field! The remedy was a deeper core match than any of the previous remedies and in the words of his mom, he has really flourished! He was able to go on the potty and on a regular basis three weeks after taking the remedy. He was doing well all summer and is a totally new person since the weight and unease had lifted. If he was to regress slightly, which would be normal, the mom could re-dose to continue the healing process and that might be all he needs, 2 doses of a well chosen core remedy. Welcome to the mysterious and sometimes spooky world of homeopathy. ~
How does holistic treatment support healthy living? Why try homeopathy? Having a life long study in the principles of nature and healthy living, Lauren Trimble is happy to share her knowledge and experience. The art of retuning the body’s natural healing capacity & developing consciousness in a compassionate and gentle way is the gift that homeopathy brings to her current holistic practice. If you enjoyed this article find out more at Birdsong.
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The Development of Ego, from Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa (This is an excerpt from the chapter that introduces the Ego and its development, and which I have added images to. We can all benefit from a better understanding of what the ego is, especially when we are seeking to know ourselves better and to seeking what is possible in spiritual development. It also gives us some deeper understanding of when we feel a neurotic or confused mind and this becomes a really great launching place for the homeopathic process of case taking. I personally prefer the Buddhist view of the Ego and of what the nature of our reality is over some of the modern writings, especially when it is suggested by some that can suppress or even get rid of the ego. That would be the same as saying we have a right hand so let’s get rid of the left thumb, we don’t seem to need it anyways. I hope you can gain something from this, enjoy!) ~ "As we are going to examine the Buddhist path from beginning to end, from the beginner’s mind to the enlightened one, I think it would be best to start with something very concrete and realistic, the field we are going to cultivate. It would be foolish to study more advanced subjects before we are familiar with the starting point, the nature of ego. [ ] If we do not know the material with which we are working, then our study is useless; speculations about the goal become mere fantasy. These speculations may take the form of advanced ideas and descriptions of spiritual experiences, but they only exploit the weaker aspects of human nature, our expectations and desires to see and hear something colourful, something extraordinary. If we begin our study with these dreams of extraordinary, “enlightening” and dramatic experiences, then we will build up our expectations and preconceptions so that later, when we are actually working on the path, our minds will be occupied largely with what will be rather than with what is. [ ]
To read more ... click here. Homeopathy and Dental work, for adults and children This series of PDFs are free to download, simply message me here on my site or at the Birdsong Holistic Facebook page, and I will send you a link to download this first free PDF on how to use homeopathy for dental issues and procedures. I am about to go to the dentist. Like most people, I really don't enjoy this part of self care. I am getting prepared to make the experience as easy and as painless as possible. I started this PDF when I had a client consulting me for upcoming toddler dental surgery and another client whose little girl knocked out one of her front teeth. I added some other situations so the PDF covers the general needs of dental work. I would like to share a humorous story about how we can get in our way and affect our health, purely with thoughts and decisions! A long time ago in my early 20's I went to the dentist and found out one of my wisdom teeth needed to be extracted. This was when I lived on Denman Island and the dentist had a mobile dental clinic in a school bus which was pretty cool. I had never heard of homeopathy back then and only knew an acupressure trick for pain relief, holding LI 4, the Hoku point above the thumb. I was sitting in his chair looking out the window at the general store and the soccer field thinking this was the first wisdom tooth I was going to lose and I let out a big sigh. Did losing wisdom teeth mean I was not going to be wise in my older years, I wondered?
The dentist was wonderful and I sat there as he prepared my mouth and the freezing and then reached for his extraction forceps. The funny thing was that as much as he pulled and plied, my tooth would just not come out. He eventually reached for larger forceps and then even larger forceps! Nothing. He was totally confused and decided to take a break. He got up from the chair and stretched a bit. I took this moment to consider what was happening here. Then it came to me, I had made a pact with myself that I would strive to keep all my wisdom teeth as they symbolized the attainment of wisdom to me and I had erroneously decided that without them when I would grow old, I would lack wise council. I realized this error, or at least that I could not hold onto it, and had a quick, inner discussion with myself. I retracted my decision and told myself it was going to be ok to let this tooth go, I did not have to hold onto it and that the best thing for me at this moment was to accept that the tooth had to come out! The dentist sat back down, picked up the larger forceps again and prepared himself for another round with my tooth. I braced myself and again pressed the Hoku point on my hand. He put the tool onto my tooth and gave a good, solid yank. He nearly fell backwards off his chair! The tooth came out as smooth and fast as if it was merely sitting in a pound of butter. He shook his head, we laughed about how odd this was and he finished up the procedure. I had an incredible lesson that day, I understood how much control the mind can have over the body! And the pact I had made was earlier that same year so it was easy to remember making it. What about all the mental decisions we make that we forget? Especially when we are making big decision about ourselves every other day, how can we possibly remember them all? Twenty or thirty years later, those mental pacts can still be affecting how our body is responding to life and situations, without our realizing it. Exploring our inner mental world with a homeopath can start the healing process to unravel these pacts and decisions and give us a more authentic understanding of what is actually happening in the current moment and make our present experiences healthier. For the Homeopathy and Dental work PDF, message me here or at the Birdsong Holistic Facebook page and I will send you a link to download this free PDF. Something in me, dark and sticky All the time it's getting strong No way of dealing with this feeling Can't go on like this too long We are onto something with the scientific discovery of the microbiome and what that whole inner ecosystem of life is doing to keep us alive and healthy. A microbiome is the ecological community of various microorganisms that literally share our body. This discovery has always emphasized the importance of these microorganisms inhabiting the human body and their relationship to our health and disease. Research has estimated there are 100 trillion organisms that make up our microbiome, meaning that for every one of our human cells there are at least 9 microbial cells, and so it is often said that we are 1/10th human and 9/10ths other living beings. These tiny microorganisms help us to perform life-sustaining functions that we couldn’t perform without their collaboration, which is why we need them and why they are so important in staying healthy. Research is suggesting that "the mammalian immune system, which seems to be designed to control microorganisms, is in fact controlled by microorganisms."[1] Let that sink in a bit. It is also these 'foreign' microorganisms that establish whether we are susceptible to illness and poor health. Therefore the microbiome would play a major role in autoimmune issues like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and perhaps some cancers.[2] Any altered mix of microbes would also be linked to obesity, depression, bipolar disorder and other stress-related psychiatric disorders. They are like the soil in which we, the beautiful plant, grows and thrives. This is for real Digging in the dirt Stay with me, I need support I'm digging in the dirt To find the places I got hurt Open up the places I got hurt The more I look, the more I find As I close on in, I get so blind I feel it in my head, I feel it in my toes I feel it in my sex, that's the place it goes In looking at health holistically, we understand that the human being evolved along with the microbiome. One did not develop and then the other jumped into the garden because it looked like a pleasant place to take up residence, we have always depended on this collective inner ecosystem for our life and health. Every time we have stressed or abused our body, this inner community is also affected and their health will decline or in extreme situations, the less helpful microbes will flourish instead. Antibiotics are known to disrupt the gut flora and kill off healthy microbes that aid in digestion and in nutrient absorption and conversion. Chronic emotional stress can affect the microbiome health just as it affects us. Being born by cesarean section is known to reduce the number of microbes we develop throughout our life. Food that is no longer fresh and nutrient rich can disrupt the microbes, just as whole, fresh foods can nourish and replenish this flora. The recent craze to take probiotics, prebiotics, yogurt and other fermented foods, wild herbs and foraged foods are excellent ways to maintain a healthy digestive system as well as the other systems supported by the microbiome. The truth is that past chronic stress, trauma, lack of vitality are all showing up later on in the symptoms that are labelled as common diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and depression. The underlying root cause goes back to understanding what is causing the stress, trauma, lack of vitality and in turn depressing the immune system. This root cause is poorly addressed by conventional medicine and medications as only the diseases (current symptoms) are treated. During a homeopathy session however the root is explored, and hopefully discovered in the process, and each individual is provided with a holistic treatment that can help the body to overcome the results of any stress, trauma and lack of vitality. When this treatment is well received by the body, a person can regain their healthy state and this in turn can slowly build a healthier microbiome as their overall health is restored. I'm digging in the dirt Stay with me I need support I'm digging in the dirt To find the places I got hurt To open up the places I got hurt The microbiome is our own dirt, and in order to heal the inner ecosystem we need to start digging. Get the support you need to dig in your own dirt! This song is about "investigating the layers within yourself" and is an angry song that deals with Gabriel's dark side. He explained to Uncut magazine: "I read lots trying to understand the buttons that operate and make you feel the way you do. When you have self-knowledge, you don't fall into the same behavioural traps. One of the keys is – take responsibility. Blaming anyone else, especially in relationships is a futile activity and not going to move you forward."
1. Round, J. L.; Mazmanian, S. K. (2009). "The gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and disease". Nature Reviews: Immunology. 9 (5): 313–323. doi:10.1038/nri2515 2. Wu, Shaoguang; et al. (2009). "A Human Colonic Commensal Promotes Colon Tumorigenesis via Activation of T Helper Type 17 T Cell Responses". Nature Medicine. 15 (9): 1016–1022.doi:10.1038/nm.2015. PMC 3034219 PMID 19701202. How does holistic treatment support healthy living? Why try homeopathy? Having a life long study in the principles of nature and healthy living, Lauren Trimble is happy to share her knowledge and experience. The art of retuning the body’s natural healing capacity & developing consciousness in a compassionate and gentle way is the gift that homeopathy brings to her current holistic practice. A safe, gentle support for childhood development and its associated ills The frequent illnesses of children can be bewildering for many parents. And in the modern medical climate it is hard to believe that illness and disease have an important role to play in growth and development. Homeopathy can offer a safe, effective, and inexpensive approach to first aid, acute, and chronic issues that arise in the course of raising a family. For simple first aid and acute situations there is a usual group of homeopathic remedies that are known and a decision for the specific remedy can be made simply and quickly. There are numerous pages online, family kits, and how-to books that provide easy to follow protocols and once the basics of homeopathy are understood, it is usually simple to find remedies for these kinds of situations. For more chronic, longer lasting conditions, it is more complex. Often homeopathy can address the underlying causes reflected in difficult physical, emotional, behavioural, and psychological problems for younger children and babies. In these chronic situations sometimes parents will notice that their child is simply restless or discontented and can't figure out what to do for them. It is difficult for their doctor to make a diagnosis or give treatment at this stage before there are no obvious signs or functional symptoms. Perhaps the child suddenly becomes whiny or clingy, or becomes afraid of the dark. Or the child is not as vibrant as before, gets bored easily, or lacks the concentration they used to have. Sometimes a child becomes aggressive or acts destructively and there is no explanation for this sudden shift in behaviour. These can all indicate a child who is no longer in balance and is struggling in their adaptation to new changes and to their own maturation, and since a young child grows so quickly it seems like each week they are facing very different and new challenges. We are all constantly changing and adapting Every one of us is in fact changing according to our needs, to our growth and to environmental changes. We are always in flux, adjusting, adapting, evolving, this is just occurring more often and at a faster rate in children than in adults. In health each of us is dynamic, allowing life to change us, adapting, integrating and embracing the newness of each day. When this natural experience of life becomes stuck then we are unable to adapt and to accept, we will want to hold onto something, to not let go and make static what must remain in flux. We all experience both poles of this dynamic and the degree to which we are in each pole relates to how vital and healthy we are. Take grief for example, an experience of the loss of something we hold onto because we value it, and then we are not able to accept other changes. We all know the experience of sadness and loss and how different that feels to the times when we are open and ready to embrace each exciting, new day. Children are no different and supporting them in their challenges and illnesses with homeopathy allows them the chance to grow, to become vital and robust, to develop a strong immune system and to develop more flexibility and adaptability when the next challenge occurs. However, if we stop or suppress the symptoms of the challenge or illness arising, this chance can be lost. The body will now add to its load of adaptation an unresolved experience and will reroute its need for growth and change to another location or situation while still carrying the old one. This eventually taxes the system and the psyche, and the child's natural development is impeded or even stopped on various levels, sometimes permanently, until the original adaptation or need is supported and allowed to inform the individual's process. Homeopathy is helpful with those subtle shifts of behaviour mentioned above and to return the natural developmental process so that the child can adapt and continue to grow and evolve. Life can once again be enjoyable and appreciated, for the child, as well the parents and other children. The many stages of childhood development involve a movement towards greater independence and the defining of a separate self, a unique person, which is why these challenges and diseases are not always obvious or physically based. The homeopath, or the educated parent, can chose from a wide range of remedies aimed at supporting the body’s own healing response and at the same time allowing the child to move through a childhood illness rather than suppressing it. For children under the age of seven, it is also important to stress the interconnectedness they experience within the family and taking the case of the parents to understand the 'environment' of the child is an excellent means to help with the child's symptoms. It is important to point out that for serious and life threatening situations, the only sensible choice is to seek out immediate medical attention. I am talking here about what can be done when we notice the early indications that there is something 'off' with a child. For parents who are concerned about side effects related to medication, homeopathy as an energetic approach that rarely has complications when taken with conventional medicines, and there are no worries about future negative effects on the developing child. Through the homeopath’s questioning and the parent’s observations, a remedy can be found to alleviate the child’s discomfort and to rapidly ease their symptoms. Homeopathic remedies are also gentle and safe for a mother and her unborn child. They can assist both with the changes brought about by every stage of pregnancy and birth and there are well known homeopathy protocols to reduce trauma induced symptoms and speed up the healing during and following the birthing process. Homeopathy can offer a multitude of long-lasting, beneficial effects during all stages of the birthing process. It is never too early or too late during the obstetrical process to use homeopathy, whether you choose conventional hospital birth, natural home birth or midwife-assisted birth. For parents and families, homeopathy is a gentle means of supporting children in their development and growth and the associated illnesses, and thus encouraging a child's health for years to come. How does holistic treatment support healthy living? Why try homeopathy? Having a life long study in the principles of nature and healthy living, Lauren Trimble is happy to share her knowledge and experience. The art of retuning the body’s natural healing capacity & developing consciousness in a compassionate and gentle way is the gift that homeopathy brings to her current holistic practice. If you enjoyed this article find out more at Birdsong.
More and more, stress is found to be the root of most Western disease and illness. I had a client a while ago who was having a hard time making choices and wanting to erase the results of the choices she did make, wishing she could go back and make a different choice after the fact. This was creating a great deal of anxiety and fatigue, which is why she decided to come for homeopathic treatment. Part of what she described in the sessions was that when something was hard to do, such as losing weight, she experienced a sense of failure. Her reaction to this was to over think things as a way to be sure her decision would be the correct one. "I prefer having feedback and reinforcement to know I have made the right decision and thus succeeded." She experienced this at home with her partner and children, with her parents and family, and when she was at work. When I asked her when she did not experience this difficulty with decision making in her life she said that on a recent canoe trip she had felt really good. "On the water you are following the currents and you have to adjust, a decision is not permanent, there is instead a responding in the moment rather than a definitive choice." In the outdoors, she realized that her physical actions were not encumbered by complex decision making and that she knew what to do and so felt confident. She could move forward and not drag in this uncomfortable state of unsuccessful decision making. What this client was describing relates to the basic stress response, although it has the flavour of her own individual experience. How does the stress response happen? I was pointed to the work of Hans Selye and his stress model the "General Adaptation Syndrome" by a recent interview with Tom Myers I listened to this week. Selye defined the stress response and how aging and disease are linked to chronic exposure to stress. It is important to note that stress is not all bad for us. Selye noticed that the body adapts to stressors with a predictable biological pattern so that the internal balance, or homeostasis, can be restored and maintained. How does this work? In an attempt to retain homeostasis, (the tendency of the body-mind to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions to reduce disturbance to its normal condition or function), the body uses the hormonal system which is connected with the fight or flight response. With this response, the body tries to resolve the disturbance quickly and efficiently and does so by releasing hormones that enable the body to combat stress as immediately as possible. Selye discovered that although the body-mind wants to control or reduce the stress, there are limits. The finite supply of the body’s current energy to adapt to the stressful environment is limited and is even more compromised when the body-mind is exposed to the stressor continuously. Selye broke this process down to three stages.
How is our stress addressed in the homeopathic case taking? In medicine distress is described as an aversion and arises when a person is unable to adapt completely to the stressors and the resulting stress. A person can then develop maladaptive behaviours such as aggression, passivity or withdrawal. In psychology, stress is the feeling of strain and pressure. Positive stress helps improve performance and plays a factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment. This is know as eustress and is the good part of being stressed. Health exists only in reaction to the stresses we experience that develop our growth, feeling of fulfillment, satisfaction and well being. Even our ability to respond is tied to having an original stressor that we have to react to. Researcher found that babies who lacked stimulation and touch were stunted and underdeveloped. Even so called negative stimulation was more beneficial to their growth than the lack of it! Eustress is never defined by what the stressor is, but by how each individual perceives that stressor. Some people may be more curious than afraid of a bear but they run up the tree anyways. Others may be terrified and convinced the world is ending as they miraculously scramble their way up the branches. Stress can be external and coming from the environment, the bear chasing you up a tree, but it may also be created by internal perceptions that cause an individual to experience anxiety or other negative emotions surrounding a situation. Go back to my client who could not make simple decisions because her perception of making a wrong choice seemed much more threatening and dangerous in her mind than it was in reality. We can experience stress, or perceive things as threatening, when we do not believe that our current resources for coping with the stressor are enough for what the circumstances will demand. In other words, when we think the demands being placed on us exceed our ability to cope, we can then perceive stress. This is why we can't look at stress alone as the problem but we have to get to the roots of the person's inner experience of it. This is impossible to do with a blood test or an MRI, but is possible when explored in sessions with a homeopath trained in this method. Saying it all over again in Myer's words
To maintain the homeostatic balance either the sympathetic nervous system is dominant while we feel under threat and we express it by the fight, flight or fright responses, or we return to the parasympathetic in order to repair, repose, rest and restore. All of the fight, flight or fright responses are highly muscular actions. This extreme action dissipates the chemicals that arise during the sympathetic state helping us to go back to the parasympathetic state. But if you keep stimulating the sympathetic response, it never goes back to the opposite side again. Stimulated again and again, we get stuck, unbalanced, and this leads to exhaustion and fatigue. This client originally came into the office complaining of anxiety and fatigue. It was only through our exploration that the root of her stress was found to be decision making and the related misperceptions. After taking a homeopathic remedy she immediately felt less anxious and had more energy again. This allowed for a greater exploration in later sessions of how her stress response got stuck in the sympathetic response. She was able to greater understand the triggers she has to perceived stressors and to find out more about who she is, while the remedy helped her body regain homeostasis. Matching our inner picture of the world with what is actually happening Myers feels that getting 'stuck' happens when people don't make themselves felt in the world by having the sense that they can change the world around them. When no matter what a person does, react, lash out, get angry, suppress, and it has no effect they will experience the opposite of eustress, distress. Then they are constantly stimulated and yet can do nothing to release themselves from the stressor. Most of us have at least one thing in life that seems to be constantly wearing us down or that we are avoiding unsuccessfully. Modern urban life is a stressful experience with a large number of stressors and a high degree of stimulation. According to Myers, if we experience eustress we feel that our reactions are reliable. However when the inside and outside world do not match up, the perception of the world that you experience in the body-mind versus the data you are getting from the outside world, this difference creates stress. It is basically a lack of matching the inner picture of the world with what is actually happening. This does not have to be good or bad, but is simply the body-mind saying there is a difference between what I thought would happen and what is happening. The body-mind mobilizes to change it in two ways, either to change the self, or to change the external information to match the picture of the world that you have. An example Myers gives is when you get a parking ticket, either you pay it to restore the agreement between the inner or outer, or you refuse to pay and change the world by saying it is not fair and you will fight the ticket in court. If you successfully do either, the stress will resolve and you will not have distress but instead experience eustress, your reaction was reliable and successful. If you can't make a choice and do nothing but put the ticket in the glove box yet continue to think about how to bridge the incongruity between the internal and external world, that will lead to chronic distress and then exhaustion and later issues like autoimmune diseases. He is basically saying that people cannot make the gap between how they are supposed to be in the world and how they are in the world. This perception is key to understanding the basis for the stress people are experiencing and this is explored during a homeopathic session. Other approaches to stress reduction include meditation and high-intensity exercise. When we consider health, the first thing many people do is to go and seek the counsel and advice of a professional. Usually this involves a medicine or treatment and sometimes a suggestion to stop drinking coffee or eating certain foods and to get more exercise. I hope that in the coming years health professionals do not stop there. I have met many people recovering from serious health conditions that tell me the most important part of their healing process was learning meditation. If you study yoga or martial arts, meditation is par for the course. If you are a conscientious vegan or vegetarian likely you have either tried it or currently practice it. In the West, meditation is no longer the practice of monks in distant countries; everyone has access to learn and practice it. Often it helps to find a mentor to guide us into a suitable practice that fits with our unique circumstance. If we are on a healing path, we need to consider meditation as part of that process. And in a holistic practice we must understand that the act of healing goes beyond the actions of the professionals and the action of medicaments, we must be part of this process, we must also take action ourselves for our self! I have always appreciated the Tibetan Buddhist approach to such things so I will share that with you. I found a good description from the book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa on how to approach a healthy meditation practice. This offers an excellent introduction into meditation practice and a good reminder for those already practicing. The basis is the idea of "letting be." We can experience that there is a sane, awake quality within us that manifests only in the absence of struggle. This is a reason to meditate although we are not trying hard to do it. Proper meditation is not a lazy, trance like state of mind nor is it mental gymnastics. We don't have to lose our intention but neither do we work hard to achieve something. It is a way of dealing however, with our neurotic states of mind, which have energy, speed and a certain pattern. "The practice of meditation involves letting be—trying to go with the pattern, trying to go with the energy and speed. In this way we learn how to deal with these factors, how to relate with them, not in the sense of causing them to mature in the way we would like, but in the sense of knowing them for what they are and working with their patterns." The idea is like how a musician might tune his guitar. It is not ideal to make the strings too tight or too loose. In meditation, we are not wanting to impose anything too forcefully on the mind, nor to let it wander. It is a letting the mind be in a very open way, and feeling the flow of energy without trying to subdue it or letting it get out of control. You want to go with the energy pattern of mind. This is proper meditation practice. This gives us a needed break from our usual thinking patterns, that are either too manipulative and imposing, or running amok and uncontrolled. What we are usually observing in this form of meditation is the ego's discursive thoughts which are continually running through our minds. This is the concept of the monkey mind defined as a mind that is unsettled, restless, capricious, inconstant, confused, indecisive and uncontrollable. It will be there regardless and the absence of it is not a sign of a successful attempt at meditating! It is important to reiterate that this approach to meditation is not a means to 'kill' the ego or to suppress it. We often forget the ego's role after reading modern, self-help rhetoric. The ego is always seeking to identify itself, associate itself and maintain a specific idea of itself. It basically translates as the sense of self and anchors us in the faculty of self-awareness. In Buddhist terms, the ego maintains our sense that we are a solid, continuous self and this is to shield us from the threatening and confusing aspects of our existence. I like the metaphor I heard the other day, that if we didn't need the ego to define us as a separate self, then walking across the street would be extremely dangerous since we would see no problem being one with a moving truck. So step one is really accepting that the ego is part of us and is here to stay!
So back to the letting be, the more we generate thoughts, the busier we are mentally and the more convinced we can be of our materially based existence, this is a big struggle. The ego wants to activate thoughts, to overlap thoughts so nothing can be perceived beyond them. Our current society in the West is overburdened with tools that help us continue these thoughts; Facebook, film and television programs, long work hours, materialistic pursuits like shopping, making to do lists, constant busyness. We rarely pause to find stillness. "In true meditation there is no ambition to stir up thoughts, nor is there an ambition to suppress them. They are just allowed to occur spontaneously and become an expression of basic sanity. They become the expression of the precision and the clarity of the awakened state of mind." A good analogy here is that the gaps between thoughts are the empty blue sky, and the thoughts are clouds. The clouds will pass and reappear, we can only wait and be observant and some days will be like July summers and other like November storms, that is just how it will be. The same with emotions, in meditation we neither encourage or suppress them. By gentle observation we can let them be as they are without them being forced or manipulated and in seeing them clearly in this way they will no longer tend to entertain or distract us and can instead be e-motions, energy in motion that is inexhaustible and fulfills egoless action. By this examination of the thoughts, emotions, and other activities of the mind, the Buddha found that there is no need to struggle to prove our existence or to struggle to be free, for the absence of struggle is a form of freedom. These gaps between thoughts are where we find our sane, awake quality and the observing is a way to truly know our unique self. Meditation is a place where we return to our true nature, where we can easily tune into the whole and re-tune our body's innate healthy states both mentally and physically. And it can be done for no cost but time and no effort but patience. Homeopathy can be a wonderful complement to use during surgical procedures. Some of the areas it covers are fear and anxiety prior to surgery, excess bleeding during surgery, reduced scarring and accelerating post-surgical recovery. Strabismus is a condition that interferes with binocular vision because it prevents a person from directing both eyes simultaneously towards the same fixation point and the eyes do not properly align with each other. One way to correct it is by cutting and rearranging the extraocular muscles and then stitching them in place. This was an interesting case since they had had the very same surgery on the left eye a year ago and wished to correct the right eye this time around. After the last surgery the pain was quite severe and the stitches in the eyeball itself caused a pain similar to having sand in the eye. Recovery was about a month with the self dissolving stitches coming out in 2-3 weeks time or longer. They dealt with the pain by taking medications such as Tylenol.
I suggested they take Arnica 200k before the surgery and used the water bottle method to have Arnica on hand after the surgery to take as needed for the pain. The surgery went very well and no adjustments were needed. (The first time 3 adjustments were needed and were very painful.) For the first three days they had no vision in the eye but did not take any Tylenol for the pain which was necessary the last time. The following week was also good without the need for Tylenol. For the month after the surgery there was no need for pain medication and severe pain only returned when they stopped using the Arnica. Once they returned to the bottle of Arnica water, the pain subsided unless they overstrained. One day they had been looking at paperwork all day and felt the eye was much larger, as if swollen five times the size and had a sensation that the bone above, and less so around the eye, was sore. It physically hurt when they touched the bone. I suggested Ruta 30ch and within five minutes this new and unusual sensation was gone and did not return. Arnica was again continued until the stitches dissolved and the pain was no longer an issue. Remedy indications Arnica 200k CHARACTERISTICS: BRUISED, SORE, TRAUMA, INJURY Muscles feel VERY SORE, PAINFUL, BRUISED; all over. Parts become sore, after the pains, or after bleeding. It is a prophylactic for pus formation. Surgical operations. UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS: Sore, bruised feeling. Mechanical injuries. Forgetfulness; absentmindedness. ALL AILMENTS FROM AN INJURY, FALL OR SURGERY. PRE AND POST OPERATIVE [surgery] OVERSTRAIN and TRAUMA: ALL forms, recent and remote. Promotes healing. Bruising to muscle tissues, persistence of ecchymosis, or swelling. Bleeding caused by injury. Injury to blood vessels. Eye injuries, black eye, foreign object in eye, surgery, cuts, wounds. Surgery: pre- and post- operative, esp. after amputation. complications. Ruta 30ch CLINICAL APPLICATIONS: eye strain UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS: Eye strain from fine work; followed by headache. FIRST AID USES: Overstrain of ocular (eye) muscles Overexertion of eyes. Everyone is busy these days and no one seems to have the capacity to listen, to really listen. How often do we speak and feel cut off, or politely interrupted and find ourselves biting our tongue? And when we speak, do we really say what is not just on our mind, but in our heart and soul when we interact with people? That is often scary or risky. It means we will be vulnerable, and when time and money are omnipotent to the social structure, we tend to inhibit the slower, deeper parts of us and they often get shut down or ignored. Human beings are social animals meaning we develop permanent groups who live together and create relationships between individuals that endure from one encounter to the next. For humans, not having these social interactions can be detrimental to development since they are critical to our survival at the base and to an emotional stability and joy of living at the best. What this points to is that all of us need someone who can listen to us, to what our heart and soul is wanting to express. The word express come from expresser in Old French meaning in Latin, 'ex' - out and 'pressare' - to press. It can mean to obtain by squeezing or wringing. Expression does not have to be so forced however. We can learn to communicate mindfully, compassionately, and peacefully. We can also learn to be great listeners. The following methods are the basics. The language The first is Non-Violent Communication developed by Marshall Rosenberg. He grew up in Detroit during an era of racial tension in the 40's. The violence he witnessed in others and in himself lead him to study psychology and to seek a means of mediation that could resolve conflicts and differences peacefully. When the racial tensions resurfaced in the 60's, he developed the Center for Non-Violent Communication. The Center has continued its work in mediation and conflict resolution with intimate relationships, work settings, health care, social services, police, prison staff and inmates, governments, schools and social change organizations. Using the character of the jackal, who represents the ineffective communicator, and the giraffe, who understands non-violent communication methods, he gives us the tools on how to strengthen the ability to connect compassionately with oneself and others, as well as to resolve differences peacefully. "NVC reminds us what we already instinctively know about how good it feels to authentically connect to another human being." The emphasis is on deep listening, to ourselves as well as others, and to discover the depth of our own compassion. He reveals the not so secret fact that all human beings when communicating are only trying to request universal values and needs, either effectually or not so effectively. Universal means transpersonal, indicating that which is beyond the limits of personal identity. We all have these values and needs in other words, in varying degrees, so there is no reason to be defensive about having them. There is a wonderful workshop series posted on YouTube that can get you started with NVC. The mind Another important communication tool is Dialogue, developed by David Bohm and Jiddu Krishnamurti. I wrote about this in my post, 'A real sweet heart.' We are proposing a kind of collective inquiry not only into the content of what each of us say, think and feel but also into the underlying motivations, assumptions and beliefs that lead us to so do. Dialogue is a way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and intentions can control our behaviour, and how unnoticed cultural differences can clash without our realizing what is occurring. It can therefore be seen as an arena in which collective learning takes place and out of which a sense of increased harmony, fellowship and creativity can arise. With Bohm Dialogue the going gets more challenging. We need to make a greater investment. Dialogue requires a thorough understanding of and insight into 'Thought and the Thinking Process' in order for it to be properly implemented according to Bohm. His Consciousness Seminars help to introduce these concepts. Once the idea of 'Proprioception of Thought' or as Krishnamurti understands it 'Meditation,' is grasped, only then is true dialogue is possible. Next, one can read 'On Dialogue,' by Bohm or check out the condensed ideas on Wiki as an introduction to how to dialogue with others. In an intimate relationship, dialogue can allow for an unpredictable understanding and therefore a more honest communication. In my experience, a relationship that includes the use of dialogue is very enriching and rewarding. We can dialogue in the board room, with our kids, during a conflict or when any deep understanding is required. It can play out in a larger sphere as NVC does also. Bohm felt dialogue was the way to explore the roots of the many crises that face humanity today. "It enables inquiry into, and understanding of, the sorts of processes that fragment and interfere with real communication between individuals, nations and even different parts of the same organization." All this is good and well if you have managed to review the tools. However, you need other humans! You need to practice, and practice some more. This is where I leave you to use your imagination and ingenuity. As long as it is joyful and practiced as an experiential learning process, you are on the way to becoming a human who can communicate well. It is worth the effort! The heart We have the methods of a therapeutic practitioner and a scientist, now the words of a spiritual master. Listening with empathy means you listen in such a way that the other person feels you are really listening, really understanding, hearing with your whole being — with your heart. Deep listening, compassionate listening is not listening with the purpose of analyzing or even uncovering what has happened in the past. You listen first of all in order to give the other person relief, a chance to speak out, to feel that someone finally understands him or her. Deep listening is the kind of listening that helps us to keep compassion alive while the other speaks, which may be for half an hour or forty-five minutes. During this time you have in mind only one idea, one desire: to listen in order to give the other person the chance to speak out and suffer less. This is your only purpose. Other things like analyzing, understanding the past, can be a by-product of this work. But first of all listen with compassion. To listen with all their being, without prejudices, without judgment. ~ Thich Nhat Hahn When I was training as a homeopath with MICH, it was understood that deep listening was going to be the greatest challenge in our work. The ability we needed to develop was not to shut ourselves up by eradicating thoughts coming from mind and ego, but to know when 'we' jumped into the moment of listening. This is important. In meditation, one does not 'destroy' the mind or ego, one simply alters the focus on them. The picture is that a meditative state is like an empty blue sky and thoughts are like clouds that pass by, obscuring the view of the sky. All we can do is notice the clouds as quickly as possible and then they will disappear — for the moment, they will reappear and keep on reappearing. So the task is to know what a cloud looks like and when it is present, not to destroy the possibility of clouds ever forming! That would be a violent act and it would not be a heartfelt act of compassion to ourselves, so how could we then extend compassion to the person we are listening to? "I don't know how therapists train themselves to acquire this kind of capacity to listen. A therapist also may be full of suffering. While sitting and listening to the client, the seeds of suffering in him or her may be watered. If the therapist is overwhelmed by his own suffering, how can he listen properly to the other person? When you are trained to be a therapist, you have to learn the art of deep listening." Thich Nhat Hahn understands well what can get in the way of listening deeply to another. MICH taught us that to be aware of all our personal suffering, judgment, prejudices and the gymnastics of our ego was the first thing to develop in listening. Just to become aware, that is the challenge. Only then can we learn to put ourselves aside when we notice our thoughts and impressions coming up. This is a form of conscious meditation. Once we understand what our mind is doing, we can say, "Oh, there it is again, my ego thoughts about such and such." And once we are aware, we can dismiss them and continue to deeply listen. How do we find out what mind is doing and if our ego is present in our thoughts? This takes the practice to an even more compelling level. For one, there are no step by step videos or PDFs I can share with you on this. Just to know about it, you can then seek out and find resources that help to understand and experience it. Just keep in mind, thought and ego are slippery fish to contend with. Going back to dialogue can help us to see if what we are doing is leading to awareness and presence or away from it. Listening with the heart can help us decide if we are on the right tract to compassionate, peaceful communication, or not. It is important to open our hearts and inner knowing to what our mind is doing since we cannot logically manage our thoughts any more than we can stare at our own eyeballs. This is why spiritual leaders like Thich Nhat Hahn are helpful. They understand how to open the heart and how to develop compassion. With these methods and tools, you can be a baby giraffe well on your way to becoming a great listener. Take small steps, keep trying, and go easy on yourself. No one said listening well was easy, but everyone always says that a good relationship depends on two things, kindness and communication!
I would think that any art so young would have its ups and downs as it matured and developed. Some of the principles of homeopathy have been around for a very long time however and now that science has started to glimpse an understanding of the immaterial universe, so too can the mystery of homeopathy start to gain acceptance.
This article written by Judyann McNamara, posted on June 19, 2014, explores the current resurgence of homeopathy. "Today, homeopathy is the most widely used form of alternative medicine in the world, supported by the World Health Organization (1), which claims that approximately 500 million people worldwide receive homeopathic treatment. In 2004, the WHO submitted “Homoeopathy: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials”, maintaining that the majority of peer-reviewed scientific papers published over the past 40 years have demonstrated that homeopathy is equivalent to conventional medicines in the treatment of illnesses, in both humans and animals. ..." |
Lauren TrimbleHomeopath and Holistic Practitioner. Archives
October 2022
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