Month: September 2014

Weaving the golden path of integration

While the transformative fires of love may never feel safe, it is only through tender kindness to your immediate experience that you will know the mysteries of lover and beloved, broken and whole, and separation and union. You can slow down. There is no urgency. You need not answer any questions, scramble back to clarity, or resolve anything... for now. There is so much intelligence moving within you. You are okay. Nothing is wrong and nothing need be fixed. … [click on title to read and view more]

Healing through the dark emotions

Fear, grief and despair are uncomfortable and are seen as signs of personal failure. In our culture we call them "negative" and think of them as "bad." I prefer to call these emotions "dark," because I like the image of a rich, fertile soil from which something unexpected can bloom. Also we keep them "in the dark" and tend not to speak about them. We privatize them and don't see the ways in which they are connected to the world. But the dark emotions are inevitable. They are part of the universal human experience and are certainly worthy of our attention. They bring us important information about ourselves and the world and can be vehicles of profound transformation. … [click on title to read and view more]

It gets better: Neuropsych doctor confirms psych drug iatrogenisis, PTSD, brain injury

Indeed, I do not consider myself ill anymore. I consider myself HEALING which is a vibrant state of movement and change. My limitations do not mean that I am sick. Learning to make boundaries for my well-being has been one of the healthiest things I’ve learned to do. Deeply respecting the needs of this body/temple is one of the most wonderful achievements of WELLNESS. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

The exiled scapegoats, the black sheep, the nonconformists and creative maladjusted…

A neighbor's goat

Exiled scapegoats can, thus, return to serve the collective as agents of its deepest and most difficult needs.... But they are also a community unto themselves. They form a loose society of nonconformists. It is one devoted to transpersonal processes underlying the individuality and secular collectives. Those in this society listen for the guidance that comes from the intersection of life and death, joy and pain, love and wounding. They are more or less willing to feel its paradoxical and raw nature. Since they struggle to continually accept that intersection in their own hearts, they can work with inevitable shadow projections, not as a prelude to scapegoating and splitting in order to attack, but as a means of life long personal growth and ethical actions. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

Native American flute to meditate by…

I've been listening to Native American Flute lately. I can feel both dance and music and sound changing and healing my brain’s neurons. Seriously. We can change our brains and I’m doing it. Neuroplasticity. Everything else in my healing protocol takes part in this movement of healing as well. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

What does it mean to heal?

I also like to say that being healthy (in both body and mind) is simply about living well and this illness has allowed me to learn how to do that in a profound way, for which I am very grateful. Being mindful of all that I do moment by moment throughout every day is a life lived in conscious sacredness. That is the healing path in my mind. One that never ends. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

We need a smorgasbord of mental health options

This is the idea behind all my advocacy around mental health...we need a smorgasbord of options available to folks. I used that line (smorgasbord of options) in this radio interview I did recently...it was the first time I'd used it...it just popped out spontaneously while I was talking...but I'll be using it more. It's exactly what we need and it's how a sane infrastructure must look like if it's going to support meaningful healing options for real people in the world. Not only do different people need different things to heal...the same people need different things at different times. Healing is about evolving and recognizing change as much as anything else. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

Learn to come back, to return to being present over and over again

The primary focus of this path of choosing wisely, of this training to de-escalate aggression, is learning to stay present. Pausing very briefly, frequently throughout the day, is an almost effortless way to do this. For just a few seconds we can be right here. Meditation is another way to train in learning to stay, or, as one student put it more accurately, learning to come back, to return to being present over and over again. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

Nutrition and gut health, mental health and diet

Gut / intestinal health is foundational to all health including mental well-being. It’s the first thing attended to when I chose to come off psychiatric drugs. In healing my gut I needed to alter my diet. I’ve collected articles below that speak to these changes I made.

WHAT’S POSSIBLE: The U.N. Climate Summit Film

There are no other causes as important as this one because without a healthy planet and environment, well, we won’t have to bother fighting for the rights of human beings anymore, will we? This is it. This is the most critical issue of our time. Presented to world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, this short inspirational film shows that climate change is solvable. We have the technology to harness nature sustainably for a clean, prosperous energy future, but only if we act now. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, it calls on the people of the world to insist leaders get on the path of a livable climate and future for humankind. … [click on title for the rest of the post]

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