Passions

I want to dedicate a moment of my time and a space in the interweb to focusing on passion.  I absolutely love passion, I love seeing it in other people and I love experiencing it. This is something essential for natural healing, because in my opinion  when you lose your passion, you lose your well-being and a part of what makes you, you.

Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialized into action to put as much heart, mind body and soul into something as is possible. -urban dictionary

Climbing is more than the energy I've invested, it is my life.  It, without a doubt,  drives my everyday actions and planning for the future.  It is one thing I can put my heart, body and soul into without fear of getting hurt.  I have had my heart broken, been denied dream jobs, suffered the betrayal of friends, and experienced the loneliest of the lonely nights.  Every morning when I wake up, I know that climbing will be there for me and calms my mind.  Planning for the weekend gets me through school.  It is actually why I am in school.  The friendships I make and people I meet is the icing on the cake.  I would not love climbing as much as I do if it weren't for all the awesome people who share their love of the activity with me.

There are the "do-ers" and the "react-ers", passionate people are the do-ers. Passionate people make change in the world and their lives.  If it weren't for passion's nothing would happen, our lives and world would be dull.  We would all be walking around lolly-gaging and smelling the flowers (not that theres anything wrong with that).  

Passions are used for positive change and negative change.  Martin Luther King, Jr, Albert Einstein, Lynn Hill, etc.  are examples the positive changers.  Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, Hutus and the Tutsi extremist  etc. were all using their passions and ideas for evil.  Passions can break up marriages and families, create authoritarian dictatorships, be used as an excuse to step on the backs of other people, create greed, obesity, and a whole host of other things.  So, I guess the moral of this paragraph, is to be sure to use your passion for positive change, not to use or abuse others in the name of your passion and not to forget the bigger picture.

Whether it be a positive influence or negative one, one cannot live without discovering and tapping into their passion.

The passions are the only orators which always persuade. 
Francois de La Rochefoucauld 

Here I am on The Broach at Ship Rock outside of Boone, NC.  I am preforming the secret to climbing in the southeast, where anyone who is a hard climber, climbs with their tongue out : )

MDs are people too.

I attended a medical conference a couple of weekends ago.  It was titled, "5th Annual Partnering Western Medicine and Integrative Medicine Healthcare Conference..."  and consisted of mainly MDs, Nurses, Psychologists and "others".  I was in the "other" category, as an aspiring student of physical therapy. 

What I realized, is that all these health professionals, who have dedicated their lives to medicine and their practice, are people too. They moan and groan when there's no more milk left for the coffee, they dont know the proper amount of honey to put on their granola and yoghurt (I saw a lady put a humongous spoonful on her granola), some were over weight and with health problems of their own, and some were old and some were young. But the thing that matter the most is that they were interested in Integrative Medicine and pushing the field of health care forward into the realm individualized health care that integrated well being, nuitrition, exercise, and state of mind, into a preventative practice.

I believe we are going to see a paradigm shift in health care.  Obamacare being the start of it.  Our system needs reforming.  Right now, we are shelling out BILLIONS of dollars on disease. The most obvious problem is the amount of money we spend on dieing people.  Today, people are living longer than they ever have in human history and we are now faced with a lot of new health issues.  Back in the day, it wouldn't have matter if you smoked, sat on your ass and ate junk food all day long (although most of that wasnt even an option), because more than likely, some deadly pathogen was going to take  you out before you turned the age of 50!  Now this amount of money we spend on our elderly, is a sticky subject.  After all, these are our grandparents and great grandparents we are spending this money on.  What do you mean you are going to cut back my grandpappy's insurance coverage?  He needs his hip replaced for the fifth time and his lung taken out and put on a ventilator and will need to be in physical therapy for the rest of his life and so on, and so on, and son on.   The problems never end once a person starts dieing.  Its sad and awful, but its the truth.

Now, another issue with our health system, is people taking advantage of it.  Not just any people though, drug addicts.  I don't even know the extent of it. But some people who live in a metropolis where there is more than one hospital within a half day traviel, can go to all the different emergency departments and get pain medication.  One of the most shocking facts I heard about this problem was that a majority of the people who are doing this, use their health insurance.  I personally had a friend in high school die from abusing the health care system, but she used her general practitioner.  I partyly blame the doctor for her death.  Why would you need to refill cough medicine prescription once or twice a month for longer than six months?  But thats a different issue.    There needs to be a cap on prescription refills and integrated management in a region so that a person cant go to five different doctors for the same issue and get five prescriptions of the same pain killer or sedative filled.

So, the conference was focused of overcoming issues like these.  A way to change our healthcare system from a disease management to a disease prevention system.  Health Care systems should be integrative, meaning that a variety of practitioners, all specializing in different areas, work together.  One client can go to one health center and get the treatment for the mental disease that's causing their physical disease, which is actually caused by their diet, all in the same place. One of the coolest centers like this is in New York.  Check out their website: http://healthandhealingny.org/highlights.asp

Western Medicine needs to take a step back from the specializations and look at the bigger picture.  And this needs to be on a large scale.  Some MDs spoke up after some speaches, complaining about how they have heard all these ideas before, in fact, they have been hearing these ideas for over 30 years! Corporate interests and big money institutions are preventing the change in health care, not to mention our flawed economic system that is based on exploitation.  One med student tried to remove McDonald's from the hospital at his school and he was suspended until he quit the fight.  Now how about all the surgeons out there who make money off of the disease and illnesses? Are they going to want to support preventative care?  Money=power and us little guys, most of the time, don't have neither.

Ok, Thank you for reading.

My friend Bob, posted this on Facebook.  Im not sure where he got it.

Letting Go.

Flipping through my journal, and I found this moving entry I wrote back in April of this year, 2012.  I want to share it with those who care.

"So, it's been hard.  A huge tidal wave of emotion and stress is continuously slapping me in the face.

The emotions of letting go of something that felt so right. The stress of getting rid of personal objects that I've collected.  The saying goodbye to those who were such good friends to me.  Its all so hard and I'm upset.  I cry almost everyday.

But, I know this is the right decision. I cannot grow in the way I want to grow here in Bishop.  I'm not that shining star who is going to make change here. its changing me.  I've had to make too many compromises inorder to live and thrive here.

I am tired of running and searching.  I just want to be.  Be free and have the opportunity to study and experience all that I want.  To embrace my family and friends and to be part of their lives again. I'm going somewhere where change is accepted and encouraged.  I will grow as a person in ways that i want to. I will face the excitement of the unknown.  Meet new people. Experience different culture. Be closer to family. See my friends that I havent seen for so long.

I want to live a balanced, healthy and meaningful life.  This doesn't mean I have to live in the most beautiful places out there.  All places have their own beauty.   I dont want to search anymore, but I dont want to lose all that has been important to me.

I am trying out Asheville.  I am not putting all my cards down like I did for Bishop, but I'll put some down.  Take a chance, absorb what I can,  Grow in a positive way, to myself, my family, the earth and its people.  Be the beauty I wish I could see in people and community."

On the road, heading back East.

Vibrations

Today's lecture in Physics class was about sound waves.  What should have only of lasted one lecture, lasted three, because my teacher seems to go on a tantrum about one thing or another every five minutes.

The main concept he was trying to teach today was about interference: constructive, destructive and then most importantly, resonance.  John Graham states that "resonance is the dramatic amplification of vibrational amplitude due to a for vibrating an object at its characteristic frequency." He just explains that when two objects are vibrating in the same frequency, it can create resonance.  This is unlike complete constructive interference where two waves heading towards each other just pass through unaffected and in complete destructive interference, when two waves of opposite (i.e. positive and negative) amplitude pass through each other, they wipe each other out, the waves disappear.

Resonance is fascinating though.  This is how the opera singer breaks a wine glass, how we get sound out of an organ pipe, how we can broadcast onto the radio, etc.  Graham even showed us a video of a bridge that collapsed in Tacoma due to the sound waves created by the wind resonating with the structure of the bridge.  Check it out, here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Fi1VcbpAI

Later today, I decided to read the chapter about Quantum Physics by Carol Davis in her book "Complementary Therapies in Rehabilitation; Evidence for Efficacy in Therapy, Prevention and Wellness."  This particular aspect of Quantum physics had to do with the The Zero Point Field theory about the empty space around us, which we call space or air which is. in fact, is full of energy.  For example, when I try a boulder problem, sometimes I climb harder than I am normally capable of.  I almost on sighted Junior's Achievement in my work clothes one day.  I went back to that same problem a month later, and couldn't even get off the ground.

The Zero Point Field argues that we can get energy from the space around us.  My favorite explanation is "this subtle energy matrix that surrounds us, which we move about in, much like the water that surrounds swimming fish, influences our physiological and biological systems in ways that are just beginning to be understood.  It all has to do with the science of bioenergetics and vibrations" (Davis). The book also cites a study done by A.V. Hill (Nobel Prize physiologist and biophysicist) and D.R. Wilkie who proved that "the amount of energy that is needed to drive muscle contraction exceeds the amount of energy produced by the mitochondria."(Davis).

Imagine everyone in the world vibrating, producing waves.  We all have these vibrations coming out of us.  Sometimes when they interact with other vibrations, they are complete destructive interference, canceling eachother out.  These are people who just completely turn you off.  Dont want to be around them, dont want to talk to them.  Sometimes its unexplainable why I or you or anyone would feel this way.  its just how it is.  Most of the time, vibrations between people are complete constructive interference...  meaning that what we say to each other doesnt really stick with us.  We leave the conversation or interactions more or less unaltered.  I would consider these friends and acquaintances   But in some rare occasions (like when the tacoma bridge resonated with the 40 mph wind), resonance happens!

So this proves that I, by myself, do not have the capabilities to climb Junior's Achievement on my own.  It was the vibrating crowd of people resonating with me that day and the energy  in the Zero Point Field  gave me the moment of lightlessness and energy to send (well, get off the ground) a normally impossible problem.  I dont know if anyone reading this has been to the Buttermilks, but the place is magical.  The zero point energy is on High there!

New vibrations are passing through me everyday in North Carolina.  I've been able to tap into the Zero Point Field once again  and have found other people that resonate with me. I finally got a 5.12 clean this year!

Comfrey

I first heard of this powerful plant when I was doing research for the skin salve was planning to make  for the climbers of Bishop.  I had known how easy it is to make a salve and how useful it would be for people living in such hostile environments like the desert and the mountains, so my experimentation started and "Secrets of the Beehive" was born.

My friend Jenn, from Humboldt, had told me how well comfrey works on the skin and why it needed to be a major staple in my salve.  She told me that it was a hardy annual that can withstand anything. She could even put a chunk of the root in the mail and send it to me, and I grow a comfrey plant!
I never did receive that root in the mail, but right when I got into "The Land where all Grows" (Asheville, NC), I posted a classified on fromhere.org, asking anyone if they had any comfrey plants I could work-trade for.

I received a phone call from Maggie.  She said she had more comfrey than she knew what to do with. I came down a few days later, and sure enough, it was the most comfrey I had ever seen (i'd actually never seen it before).  All I had to do was weedwack a small section of her land and she gave me garbage bags full of the leaves and jars of oil she made from last fall.  She also hooked me up with a baby comfrey plant, allowed me to dig up comfrey roots and also transplanted a St. John's Wort Plant for me. Jackpot!

this is what her comfrey hedge looked like when I got there...

This is what it looked like when I left (hours later)

This plant is amazing.  First of all, its resistance to eradication is simply fascinating.  It takes people years to successfully rid their gardens of it.  What begins as a hedge, soon becomes a wall.  I will add pictures later of what Maggie's hedge looked like, but it was thick and tall, and, not too mention, thistly.  You have to be fully protected when removing it, longsleeves and gloves.  Comfrey also has a high nitrogen content thats great for compost and green cover.  I put three of the bags of comfrey on the compost at my rental and what began as a pile of rotten food, now is a big pile of comfrey and old leaves, breaking down into beautiful soil.

The main constituent of the herb is mucilage."The Way of the Herbs" by Michael Tierra, says that Comfrey root has the highest content of mucilage of any herbs, which has been used for soothing lung troubles and coughs.  And you can see and feel this mucilage when you start making things with the leaves and roots.  When I washed the roots to prepare them for drying, they felt craaaazy!  Super slimy and wiggly, it honestly felt like dead fingers.  The leaves are infusing in olive oil right now, and I can see the mucilage all over them.

What I love comfrey for is for its ability to heal the skin.  "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs. M. Greives, says "Comfrey leaves are of much value as an external remedy, both in the form of fomentations, for sprains, swellings and bruises, and as a poultice, to severe cuts, to promote suppuration of boils and abscesses, and gangrenous and ill-conditioned ulcers.  The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm and applied hot as a poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in any tender, inflamed or suppurating part."  Micheal Tierra notes, "Comfrey is indicated for any rapid wound or bone healing.  As such it can be used both internally and externally with outstanding results in the healing of fractures, wounds, sores and ulcers. The allantoin in comfrey increases cell proliferation, which accounts for its rapid-healing powers."

I've already turned some of Maggie's oil into salve and have given it to many of my new friends in North Carolina. I anticipate the results...  Personally, I do not doubt the powers of this plant.

But just as a warning to all who use this plant, It can cause or flare up liver problems.  If you are prone to liver disease or already hard on your liver, lay off! It has also been know to affect hormone levels.  Most notably,  testosterone.  Women in menopause can use it to help relieve symptoms.  All these warnings are from those who have used the herb in excess.

This is fresh salve, straight off the burner and poured into jars for distribution.

How to make Comfrey Salve:
Maggie's oil was made of fresh comfrey leaves infused in Olive Oil in a crock pot for a few hours.  If you do it this way, be extra careful not to let the oil burn.  It is stinky and messy and a waste of herbs and oils.

I prefer to make mine in a mason jar that sits in the sun for a few weeks.  This is called a solar infusion. I fill the jar up with chopped comfrey leaf and top it off with olive oil.  Be sure there is about half an inch of oil  above the leaves.  Put this out in the sun for 2 to 4 weeks, shaking it once a day or so.  If I am feeling especially crafty, I will start them on the full moon and leave them outside during the night for those three days and then continue the infusion until the New Moon or the following Full.

I then take the oil (after I strain the leaves/roots out), heat it up and melt beeswax into it.  I am still working on the ratio, but somewhere are around 1:4, wax:oil, ratio is good. Once the wax is melted, add essential oils and vitamin E.

Voila!  Now you can make healing salve too!

But, if you dont have time to make your own, I'll do it for you!!!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Pictures will come soon.  I have to figure out an easy way to get them on my computer....

The Power of Pyramids

***I tried to post this last week, I am still trying to figure out this blogging thing, so if this is a duplicate post, my apologies.

Ok, so what began as kind of a joke has now consumed my thoughts and has become somewhat relevant.  The power of the pyramid.  It all started with me finding a homemade pyramid in the kitchen at the a house I moved into last month.  I asked my roommate, "what's up with the pyramid?"  After all, it was taking up valuable space on my herb shelf.  My roommate replies that his friend made it and gave it to him because of the powers it encompasses.  Ok, sweet... the pyramid stays on the herb shelf.

A few weeks later, I am at my herbal companion's house and her healing friend comes over.  We chat, and it turns out she is a massage therapist and decorates her healing room with pyramids.  I chuckle to myself while keeping a straight face and later tell my roommate about conversation.

Later on, I was pondering the lessons I had learned in my psychology class this week and I realize that the two concepts that I enjoyed the most were also pyramids!  

One is called the pyramid of talk.  This has a base that consists of small talk, then above it is Informative talk, next is emotional talk, then comes crucial and secretive talk.  In order to accomplish the higher levels of the pyramid, you must lay the foundations.  This is the basis of relationships, whether it be with your  new or old friends, boy/girlfriend, wife/husband, teacher/pupil, etc.   In order to build a trusting relationship, you must start at the bottom..  You also have to keep building that lower level in order to accomplish the higher "Big Talk".  You can't skip levels either.  If you just meet someone, and they are only informing you about the facts of the world or unleashing their emotions all over you, that friendship will diminish.  The pyramid comes crumbling down when any of the base levels are compromised. Brilliant.  

The next pyramid we talked about was Sternberg's Components of Love.  Now this is more of a triangle, but none the less, it looks a lot like a pyramid in my drawing.  So the three points on the triangle are Intimacy at the top, and Passion and Commitment at the two other ends.  In between these points are the three types of love that are a product of the points they are in between of;  Romantic love, companion love and consumate love.  Let me just draw a picture.  Ok, according to Sternberg's consummate love is the ultimate way to happiness, and inorder to have this you must have all three components.  If not, you're love will be of a different kind.  It doesnt necessarily mean that what you have is bad or wrong or less than the ultimate "consummate" love.  But with many people who are my age, not yet married and fully committed to a man or woman, it might be a good tool to use to help predict the future of the relationship you are in.

So, maybe those Egyptians were on to something... Pyramids might be powerful, at least, symbolically powerful.



Thank you for reading my ramblings.

The Tree of Wisdom

I walked out of Asheville's Climbing gym, Climbmax, and my friend says, "Check out this tree..." before I even allow him to finish his sentence, I exclaim, "Its a Ginko Tree!!!"

Photo from: http://old.texarkanacollege.edu/~mstorey/plants/Ginkgo.html

My friend wanted to tell me that this species is one of the oldest known tree genus in history. According to a college in Texas, this species has been around for over 80 million years (http://old.texarkanacollege.edu/~mstorey/plants/Ginkgo.html). They go on to say that it no longer exists in wild, its only propagated.  So why have humans been propagating this tree for so many years????

Michael Tierra writes in "The Way of the Herbs", that "this leaf can be used for improving blood circulation to the brain, improving peripheral blood circulation, tinnitus, Alzheimer's and senility, to improve one's mood and sociability, arthritic and rheumatic problems, arteriosclerosis, eye weakness caused by poor circulation, vertigo, anxiety and tension, lung and bronchial congestion" (Tierra). Herbalist, Amanda McQuade, says "Gingko is used to treat or improve memory, mental efficiency ability to concentrate, sociability and mood especially in the senile and aged" (Tierra).  Rosemary Gladstar says its good for increasing memory, emotional stability and energy.

This species is one of my favorites to use in teas.  It is an excellent tonic for the brain.  I discovered this secret when I was an undergrad and I will swear by it.  My brain functions much faster and crisper when I am drinking this leaf as a tea.  I can feel the results after just a few days.

This is my favorite Gingko Leaf Tea Recipe from Rosemary Gladstar's homestudy course:

 Brainy Brew

1pt Peppermint

1pt Lemon Balm

1pt Gota Kola

2pts Ginko leaves

You can mix and match any of these herbs.  I made a tea today that was just peppermint and  ginko leaves (which I picked from the magical tree my friend showed me), and it tasted great.  Gingko can be somewhat bitter, but it is actually mild in a tea and can be mixed with anything.

When I use this herb, I use it in mass quantities.  I am talking about 16 to 20oz of the tea five times a week (your body can build a tolerance if you use any herb everyday).  Rosemary Gladstar says that inorder for Gingko to be effective, it must be used consistently for 2 to 4 months, although I can feel the effects after just a few days of drinking the tea.  "Gingko works as a nutrient, not a drug, so it is necessary to be consistent and to use an adequate amount," Gladstar writes.

I have yet to experience any side effect from taking too much of it.  Michael Tierra warns that dermatitis, irritability, restlessness, diarrhea and vomiting, are possible side effects but are rare.

Resources:

Gladstar, Rosemary. "Science and Art of Herbalism; A Home-Studay Course" Last updated October 2010.

Tierra, Michael.  "The Way of Herbs" Last updated 1998 by Pocket Books.

***both these resources are excellent and I highly recommend Tierra's book for anyone just getting into herbs that wants to know a variety of information about them.  Its easy to read and to use.

"Gingko Biloboa; Maidenhair Tree" Texas Arkansas College?

(http://old.texarkanacollege.edu/~mstorey/plants/Ginkgo.html)

The Natural Art of Healing

Some of us have an instinct deep inside of us to nurture and heal.  Whether its by raising a child (or children), helping those in need, planting a garden, caring for the elderly, healing the sick and those in pain or simply by cooking good food thats nurturing to the body and soul.  I think its important for one to tap into this instinct and go with it.

I have a yearning to heal the land and the people.  I have explored different paths to do this, whether its by teaching people how to swim or rock climb, giving kids a shovel and showing the way into the mountains, learning the principles of permaculture, studying herbalism, making healing salves and lotions, and now through exploration of healing through movement.

I want to heal the mind, body and soul because its rewarding for both those being healed and myself.  But maybe the real reason for my motives are egocentric,  I need to heal myself.  My endless quest for health, happiness and beauty will not stop with me though. I love sharing the knowledge that I gain with all those who are willing to listen and are in need.

So join me on my deontological journey through life as I seek for health, love and happiness for myself and others.

Drawn By Victor Lawson of Bishop, California