Food for contemplation

A collection of thoughts, aphorisms and brief prose filled with the reflections of a healing woman.

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Nuanced communication: paradox and belief

gazebo bird cage in the woods of Arkansas LIttle rock area for Nuanced communication

When people are incapable of understanding nuance (grey areas, paradox, nonduality, whatever you want to call it) they are generally incapable of communicating on difficult topics. Generally anyone attached dogmatically to any particular belief have trouble opening to conflicting or even complimentary information. When one comes up against dogma in another it seems best to go silent and start listening carefully. Sometimes there is a way to re-engage and other times the best one can do is allow the moment while opening the heart as wide as possible. When one cannot be understood, when communication isn’t possible, argument is not helpful. ...

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How to use the site

This is how to use the site Many people still ask me for my “protocols.” The message I communicate for healing is that we are all different and our paths are also, therefore, going to be endlessly diverse. I share my experience, not so that it may be copied, but so that the reader can get a sense of process.

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soulwork

Soulwork is not a high road. It's a deep fall into an unforgiving darkness that won't let you go until you find the song that sings you home. - McCall Erickson *** Love humbles by creating deep gratitude for a lesson learned and allows us to feel vulnerable and thus allows humility. Humiliation is cruel and tends to build pride in reactivity rather than humility. ...

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healing is a dynamic state of CHANGE

purple and blue smoke for healing is dynamic change

I've never had a cohesive sense of self. That's the part that gets labeled "mentally ill." No socially appropriate ego development. I became aware anyway and I can fake functioning like everyone else when I have to. Healing this sort of thing involves doing the opposite of what Buddhism and other more esoteric systems teach. It means coming back into the body and integrating the self from no-self. It is not about losing the self because that self never was...in that way we are both ahead of "typicals" and not too... the biggest problem is typicals don't know how to help and are in fact often dangerous to us... This still breaks my heart everyday as I continue to learn about my body and thus from this little window the body which is humanity, too. *** Things are always changing when we're healing...CHANGE. Dogmatic attachment to anything at all is the antithesis of being in the now...the antithesis of healing.

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Being labeled mentally ill creates a double bind

lush greenery in tropical indoor for double bind conservatory

When people are sensitive and they get labeled mentally ill...the force of all of society believing people are sick and wrong is projected onto us. If we don't come to understand the actual toxic force of this it will kill us. That is the tragic truth. And it's no small thing to do that. When all of society projects the belief that ugly, intractable uncontrollable forces are making us sick...well, no surprise...we get sick...

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Message to those labeled by psychiatry (audio included), 7 yrs off psych drugs

The text '7 years!' surrounded by swirling blue and green for 7 years off psych drugs

My birthday and my seven-year anniversary off of psych drugs was February 9th. I usually do a video and post that day, but I was actually in bed most of the day and didn’t feel well at all…hence the video and post today… (update 2026: the video is no longer but there is an audio file in it's place of the event)

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Allow. We need only to allow.

Sun rays shining through dark clouds with the word allow

The one, perhaps most foundational, thing I did was practice feeling what I was feeling. Since that was overwhelming and incomprehensible amounts of pain that meant 30 seconds at a time at first and slowly slowly practicing BEING WITH WHAT IS...what is was a ton of pain and agony...what is was a ton of fear keeping me from feeling the agony. The practice was to ALLOW. We need only to allow. This is it. This is reality. Allow it.

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From Self Care to Collective Caring

By Leah Ida Harris == As a trauma survivor growing up in various adolescent mental health systems, I learned that my current coping skills (self-injury, suicidal behavior, illicit drug use) were unacceptable, but not given any ideas as to what to replace them with.

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The quick fix is a lie

When one understands the interconnectedness of everything it becomes clear that transformative healing must borrow from all corners of experience... "Cure" is not about one thing applied to the whole. Healing is instead a dance of many things synergistically coming together for wholeness. The quick fix is a lie.

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Placebo effect! Let’s stop denigrating it

I'm always astounded when the placebo effect is talked about as though it were a nuisance...it's such an incredibly and sadly closed minded way of seeing things. Of course we need a new name...that makes it central...we are healing machines!

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Focusing: Felt Sense Meditation

green grass close up photo ... for focusing

By Will Hall Focusing is a book and technique by Eugene Gendlin that began with a very provocative research study: therapy clients were studied to determine what about them would predict whether therapy would be successful or not. It turns out that people who, in tapes of their discussions with the therapist, could focus in on their felt emotional awareness had a much higher rate of reporting that therapy was helpful. The next question was, Could this be taught? To do focusing, first you need to recognize that you have permission to disregard the focusing instructions.

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Placebo phenomena is inherently human, ALL humanity

low angle photography of clouds for all humanity

Placebo effect is one of my favorite interests. I've said again and again, we need to learn how to harness the power of placebo because it is, essentially, nothing other than our own minds power to heal our whole beings. Pharma and many scientists want to dismiss it. Placebo is experienced as a nuisance in research. It's clear to me the phenomena is part of our human heritage and rather than find it an annoying thing that gets in the way of drug making, we should put more effort into learning how to use it within ourselves without the props!

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Mindful Eating: Beyond Elimination Diets and Health Gurus

outdoor art installation from River Market district Little Rock AR for Mindful Eating

I did just about every elimination diet out there (over a period of 15 years). These thoughts come mostly from a few years ago as I started to eat more of everything again…I am still learning to eat well for this moment now. Food, diet and mindfulness all go together in my world. This is... Continue Reading →

June 5, 2026 2

Madness, diversity and inclusivity

I want to share this old video: madness, diversity and inclusivity. It's general message is especially important now with all the division we are facing societally. If you're interested in more YouTube talks, please let me know.

May 29, 2026 1

Mad Camp 2026

There's still time to apply for Mad Camp in Northern California in July. Madcamp.net for all the information you need. Also: Apply here https://forms.gle/sUMwbJSR18qEeon5Ahttp://madcamp.net/SUBSCRIBE https://madcamp.substack.com/ Join us for a 5 day summer camp!Mad Camp 2023 and 2024 were absolute amazing smash successes! AND 2025!!! So YES let’s do it again everyone! July 16-20 2026! APPLY... Continue Reading →

May 24, 2026 0

being a nobody: social media take heed

painting of red flowers in close up photography for being a nobody

Here is to being nobody with everybody! Yes a celebration of being a nobody. To grasp our nobodyness and celebrate it seems to be at the essence of successful nonhierarchical living. If we all understand and embraced the nobody nature of our existence things would be different. Granted, it's only something to think about since as we, as western people, are about as far away from embracing this deeply as is possible. We might say our lack of understanding our nobodyness is what is ailing us in the most profound way.

May 19, 2026 0

Yoga, As Needed

The video shows me doing yoga as needed: Cobra on a park bench and then I did a little cat cow too. I incorporate my yoga into every moment of daily life so that there is no separation as I slowly rehab over and over again.

May 16, 2026 0

the surrendered path

green and white grass field for when I'm in guidance there is no thought whatsoever. I watch and learn. My body is a channel of the divine. This is the nature of the surrendered path I live.

New Post when I'm in guidance there is no thought whatsoever. I watch and learn. My body is a channel of the divine. This is the nature of the surrendered path I live. the above is true, while I am also in a hell realm most of the time. So it's hard to explain to people. I learn all about humanity, however from here. We really cannot know ourselves without a deep dive into shadow. I, for whatever reason, was called to the fringes of the human experience...all with the afflicted body being mirror for the human condition and that which is happening on the planet right now.

May 10, 2026 0

Dissociation and psych drugs

Here's an important thing to understand about psychiatric drugs. Mental health conditions, just about all of them, are forms of dissociation from the body. Psychiatric drugs, across the board, dissociate one further from the body. Thus, they make the issues worse. When people actually do find relief on psych drugs, that's real and some people find in that kind of relief an opportunity to seek other ways of healing. Other people, however, never get off of the drugs and slowly their metabolic processes and capacity to detoxify diminish further. Thus, we get the statistic that people on psych meds die 25 years earlier on average.

May 4, 2026 0

Short Videos of the International Peer Respite/Soteria Summit

This is to let you know the International Peer Respite/Soteria Summit (Summit), with which I am involved, recently arranged for the incomparable Daniel Mackler to edit its over 20 hours of videos into short clips: Included is an list of them all.

April 28, 2026 0

Search on Beyond Meds

I use a paid search engine to make this site competitive with what's out there these days (just for accessibility, mind you... I'm not into marketing anymore) ... There a a bunch of staggered payments for upgrades. This one for search caught me by surprise. I would love some help if you feel so inclined.... Continue Reading →

April 25, 2026 5

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