Look well to the growing edge. All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
The growing edge
Mama earth in action
I actually woke up this morning thinking I'd arrived. I'm well...even if still disabled by conventional standards. From the outside looking in I'd be perceived as ill in many regards. I have many practical limitations. I remain unable to make most commitments that most people take for granted, for example. Also, I need a lot of support to manage what might be called activities of daily living. All the critically mundane tasks one must get done to survive. I need help. But from my standpoint I'm well. I'm in touch with what I need to do to live consciously...that is being well as far as I'm concerned. I know what I need and I know what sort of boundaries and limits I need to make for myself. I am privileged to have certain critical supports I need. Other needs remain unmet. We are stretched to the max financially and emotionally. The razor's edge follows me everywhere. Not having society or extended family support in a family of two with one member disabled is rough. And given it feels impossible sometimes, I'm always thinking of those who have far less than I do. Still knowing what I know...this is good stuff.
Ecstatic dance: trance and movement for healing and transformation
I've gone to several 5 Rhythms Waves now. They are the most joyous and wonderful moments of my life right now as I continue to rehabilitate. When one surrenders to the energy of these waves one is swept away in the energy of the room, dancing from this trance state is a miracle every time as your body leads the way doing things you didn't even know it could do. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Yoga for trauma: reclaiming your body
That trauma deeply impacts the body is something people are still just starting to understand.Those of us using yoga and other body/mind techniques to heal learn just how profound the body/mind connection is. Yoga has been a profoundly healing part of my journey for past traumas (both experiential and the iatrogenic trauma that psychiatric drugs imposed) and for rehabilitation after having been bedridden for a couple of years. The below information about yoga healing and integrating PTSD and past trauma is very important practice, news and research. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
We not only get ill, we also get well
I've been inspired by Deena Metzger for many years now. I have often returned to some of her words that I've shared on this blog as I've gone through my process of listening to my illness so that I might grow and heal with it, rather than fighting it. In the interview with Tami Simon from Sounds True she goes deep into what this means for her and it's deeply resonant with my own experience.
Among other things Deena speaks to the issue of iatrogenic illness. Medically induced injury, in other words. The issue that I and so many who read this blog face in a giant way through protracted withdrawal syndrome, a sometimes gravely disabling illness caused by the use and withdrawal of psychiatric drugs. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
What I’m doing here
Saturday Mellow Here, Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive records lead vocals on her original song "What I'm Doing Here".
Musings on healing and well-being
Illness is a lack of wellness. Wellness is the experience of vitality, a desire to participate fully in life, take chances, and have an internal state of well being. When ill, a person checks out of her participation in life, resists change, is concerned about ones circumstances, and often her mortality. Illness does not have to be associated with the presence of any disease. Wellness does not have to be associated with the elimination or reduction of disease. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
The toxic assault on our children
People may wonder sometimes why posts about food and the environment etc. are on a mental health blog. It's because everything matters in our environment. Everything in our environment impacts our health and wellbeing. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Beginner’s mind
I want to practice what Buddhists call ‘beginner’s mind’ — a vital corrective to the cynicism that comes when we let life’s hard realities darken our vision and diminish our imagination. It’s a way of looking at the world that makes fresh starts possible in everything: our personal lives, our work lives, even our political lives. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Daniel Mackler films: all available online
All Daniel Mackler's films are available for free viewing. I highly recommend them all.
Take These Broken Wings — recovery from schizophrenia without drugs (full film here)
Daniel's first film remains my favorite. Maybe just because it was his first and I was so thrilled to see such wonder documented on film. All his films are wonderful, of course. You can view them all online now. … [click on title for the rest of the post]