Wonderful talk on the holistic nature of reality and how we so often deal with the pieces rather than understanding the whole. How do we come to know and not know in the context of this reality. A reality that is dependent on a multitude of relationships with all the multitude of parts. How do we hold this all together? What does it mean to think differently? … [click on title to view more]
The only (sarcastic) photo meme I've ever made...found this in my files today. Sharing it for fun. I never actually posted it in a public place when I made it a few years ago. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Only an intellectual Luddite would deny the enormous benefits that have accrued to humankind from the scrupulous application of scientific methods. But not all essential information can be confirmed in the laboratory or by modern statistical analysis. Not all aspects of illness can be reduced to facts verified by double-blind studies and by the strictest scientific techniques. “Medicine tells us as much about the meaningful performance of healing, suffering, and dying as chemical analysis tells us about the aesthetic value of pottery,” Ivan Ilyich wrote in Limits to Medicine. We confine ourselves to a narrow realm indeed if we exclude from accepted knowledge the contributions of human experience and insight. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
My favorite MD is an unusual man of great insight who is also a scientist and researcher. This is a man who has never told me what to do and only supported my process by being witness and offering insights when and if applicable. I found him later in the drug withdrawal journey, after I was off the offending drugs that harmed me. I was still bedridden. He certainly saw the worst of my iatrogenic injury. He once said to me that those of us who have the most extreme reactions to the drugs are actually the most likely to heal and transform. He said the the mere fact that we are so profoundly injured by them is proof of our highly neuroplastic brains. And while the healing process may sometimes be radical and even violent, that ultimately when we've healed, we've also transformed in profound ways. Indeed, this is becoming my experience. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
A lovely man worth getting to know a bit. The 2015 Templeton Prize Laureate, Jean Vanier, speaks on the Big Question: “What does it mean to be fully human?” … [click on title for the rest of the post]
By Will Meecham - Ten years ago it wasn’t uncommon for me to be depressed and near suicide for days on end, with few ‘breathers’ between episodes. Nowadays I feel down only occasionally and for brief periods. Even better, my baseline is more optimistic and enthusiastic. Rather than living with a stubborn low-grade depression and rare hypomanic lifts, I now enjoy a background state of sweet (if slightly sad) acceptance with occasional hours of serenity–or even bliss–during meditation. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
By Jon Keyes- We live in a world that is disconnected from this way of looking at plants/herbs and see them as either fairly useless or often as a capsule to ingest to gain a desired effect. When I work with people who are recovering from trauma, I often do the simplest thing possible, I have a cup of tea with them. Just the act of siting down and sipping a gentle tea brings connection, warmth, a movement towards increased stillness and trust and away from the noise and the overstimulation of the modern world. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
I got an email from one of the authors of this study in the Lancet. This is scholarship carried out by folks some of whom have lived experience which is very exciting. Nev Jones sent the email to thank me...but really she is thanking the readers of Beyond Meds who responded and took part in this study. So thank you to all who participated and here is an excerpt and link to what you helped create. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
For the most part I remain on hiatus, but I wanted to share the below article because I'm learning about immune response right now and I think it's important to share it. When I say I'm learning it I mean that my body is revealing the truth of it to me. Our bodies hold information to heal us. We all learn different things because we're all aspects of the whole. I'm sharing what I am receiving through my healing experience. This information needs to get out there and every single one of us that understand (in whatever way it comes to us) can help it go society wide. I have personally found that my body goes into an immune response when it’s visited by a trauma trigger. The trauma remains foundational. The immune response is secondary to a trauma in the history of the person. It would be a mistake to consider the immunological aspects without also looking at trauma. This is why there is so much auto-immune illness in circles of folks who’ve been psychiatrized. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
By Jon Keyes - Finding peace with the body can be a long journey. Those that are working on finding a way home often explore changing their diet and working with modalities such as yoga, tai chi, acupuncture, herbs, EMDR and EFT. These are ways of building strength and resiliency, of rebuilding the foundation from the ground up, of integrating and processing the deepest levels of sorrow but also transcending these places of fear and shame to come out again, to breathe and shine, to remember their underlying wholeness and holiness that underlies all nature, that can never be breached, that can never be taken away. Sometimes we must go away to protect ourselves. But when the time is right, the path home is available to us all. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Everything matters 
You must be logged in to post a comment.