MoY Presentation: Patterns of Health
2.3.2 Growth Mindset
Carol Dweck's articulation of Growth Mindset is an extremely valuable lesson to all people, and especially any that consider themselves to be learners:
2.3.4 Herbal First Aid Kit
These are the essentials that I recommend for everybody's herbal first aid kit. On page 2.3.4, I expand this list with other recommended herbal remedies as well.
BRONCHIAL
Garlic
Propolis tincture
Fire Cider
GASTRO-INTESTINAL
Triphala -- assists regularity/constipation
Bitters — constipation
Curing pills -- indigestion, good for hangover
Oregano oil -- food/water poisoning
MUSCULO-SKELETAL
Arnica (homeopathic pills) — trauma strain/sprain
Arnica gel — trauma strain sprain
Zen gu shui
HARDWARE
Tweezers
Bandaids
Needle
Latex gloves
Alcohol or Sanitizer
Scissors
Electrolyte replacement
2.3.6 Natural Cleaning Supplies
I contend that the "organic cleaning supply industry" is simply an industrial business model looking to make money while barely scratching the surface of doing good. It is still tangled in the web of consumeristic profit driven big business mentality. Let's RELOCALIZE our cleaning supply system. I propose DIY, home scale cleaners basically using 5 cheap and easily attainable products:
- Vinegar
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Baking Soda
- Alcohol
- Dr Bronners
2.3.7 Exercise
I have a video illustrating my daily routine; however, I believe there are many effective exercise routines. I encourage everyone to begin a daily practice and consider 5-10 minutes sufficient rather than not doing an hour of exercise. I also stress on a pattern level that in many traditions, there are some key recurring themes/patterns:
- Twists
Forward Bend
Heart Opener/Back Bend
Core Strengthening
2.3.8 Nutrition
There are thousands of recommended diets for people. Ultimately, I believe that each person's constitution, character and where they live and how they live life impacts what the most healthful foods for them to consume are. I have tried to distill 8 Pattern level awarenesses including WHAT and HOW to eat that are not prescriptions for any particular food but rather signify our relationship to food.
1. Enjoy your Food --Food is meant to fuel our body and spirit. Don't turn food into solely fuel for a machine. This is one of the greatest pleasures of our life. And we live at an amazing time in history where we can have spices and products from all over the world anytime we want.
2. Eat S.L.O.W.ly --(Seasonal, Local, Organic and Whole -- and eat slowly)
3. EAT Whole Foods: --Whole grains, whole fats, whole sugars, whole fruits and vegetables
4. Avoid Highly Processed Foods (including Fast Food): Eliminate HFCS and Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (industrial foods cheapest sugar and fat)
5. Eat ALL the Colors Rainbow Diet naturally give you a spectrum of flavors and nutrients from primarily fruits and vegetables. (Food Coloring doesn't count). Diversity Yields Stability.
6. Cook for yourself and loved ones. The love and nourishment of a home cooked meal is part of the energy we are taking in that is very difficult to find in most restaurants. I love going to restaurants and there can be some wild taste sensations. Cook for yourself as well.
7. Chew your Food. -- Digestion begins in the mouth with salivary enzymes and teeth physically breaking down food to release more nutrients with less work from your small intestine.
8. Eat when you are hungry. Eat until you are full. You don't have to finish your plate. (Try water prior to eating as well to check if you are merely thirsty.
2.3.10 Cleansing
Most cultures have participated in some form of cleansing for cultural or religious occasions. I believe cultures incorporate cleansing as a means toward greater health. I recommend everybody incorporate some form of cleansing into their life on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. I discuss various forms of Cleansing:
Water based cleansing -- Juicing and Fasting are the most common water based cleanses.
Ayurvedic Cleansing -- Most common current home model is a kitcharee based cleanse. Advanced techniques are used in hospital setting during panchakarma.
Fat based cleansing -- Sneha is an ayurvedic ghee cleanse.
Radiation cleansing -- Post-Fukushima, examining methods for protecting our bodies from the effects of radioactivity seems paramount.
Shat Kriyas - Six Yogic Cleanses with Water Fasting,
2.3.12 Stress
Stress is a wonderful evolutionary adaption to manage short term physical emergencies (acute); contrariwise, it is debilitating and life threatening when dealing with 30 years (chronic) of psychological anxiety/prediction that a problem is coming.
For example, when a zebra runs from a lion; stress is essential, useful and life saving. However, when I chronically worry about money, career, or taxes, stress is debilitating. Sapolsky warns in his lecture Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: “We turn [the stress response] on long term for psychological reasons and that’s not what it was meant for.” I believe that our relationship to stress is hugely important and on this page I offer mitigation strategies as well as approaches of gratefulness to shift our attitudes and thereby our health.
BEST PRACTICES
CONTENT
Go outside and play with your friends.
Remember to pause and smell the roses.
Call a friend
Compliment a stranger
Give a loved one a hug
Cook your meals
Go to Farmer’s Market
Join a CSA
Plant a seed
Roll at the start of the day
Dance
Unstructured Outdoor Playtime
Sit ups
Volunteer
Random Acts of Kindness
Follow your Bliss
Death Meditation
Laugh, Smile, Play
Reflect on what you are grateful for each day.
Metta (Loving Kindness) Meditation
Follow your bliss.
Be Here Now
Vipassana
Unstructured Outdoor Playtime
Find somewhere you have never been
Commune with non human living organisms
Sit for 10 minutes
PROCESS
Structured Journalling
Introduction
This page represents many of the key pattern level awarenesses into our Zone 0 to understand our own health & happiness. Through this project, I have produced abundant material reflecting my learnings and beliefs from the 20 years I have in the Alternative Health & Healing field. For even more information, please visit what resonates with you in the Supporting Evidence Section.
Relocalization
I want to reiterate that the theme of relocalization of production and distribution of goods and services is paramount to my lens into the permaculture movement. Within this OP, I attempt to display the value in empowering individuals ways to become happy and healthy without big pharma and our current medical system.
The theme of relocalization and personal empowerment is embedded in the natural lifestyle. Holistic medicine is practitioner and individual based rather than supporting big pharma. Natural cleaning supplies moves us away from industrial processing. Suggestions for more home cooked meals and stocking the larder and feeding ourselves with foods that are grown seasonally, locally, and organically as we move away from industrial (highly processed) foods.
Patterns of Health & Happiness
This 22 minute video is my presentation on key pattern level awareness regarding our personal health:
• Relationship
• Nature
• Nutrition
• Exercise
• The Pause
• Purpose
• Attitude
• Awareness
Key Outcomes
Articles
2.3.2 How to Receive a Massage -- I have always said that doing 1000 hours of massage training made me a good massage therapist; however, the most significant outcome of all this training was that it made me wonderful at receiving massages. Here I share tips for how to receive a massage.
2.3.2 Growth Mindset -- New research that affirms "The problem is the opportunity" reflecting how we learn and grow in life being highly tied to our mindset or "mindflex"
2.3.4 Herbal Allies & Natural First Aid Kit -- This is my herbal first aid kit. In addition, as part of my herbalist certification studies, I have been compiling lists of herbs that I befriend and attempting to examine patterns within herbal allies so that one needn't study the entire materia medica of the herbal world. Included is also a list of highly medicinal culinary herbs to bring into salads, sauces and cooking. Includes an Adaptogen Chart -- Adaptogens are among my favorite herbal allies and I believe everybody can create a daily relationship with one of these tonics. This chart gives a sense of what some of these adaptogens are. All adaptogens increase general resilience providing the body with added energy and focusing the mind
2.3.5 Herbal Medicine Making -- General awareness around herbal medicine techniques with best practices for some common herbal products: tinctures, salves.
2.3.6 Natural Cleaning Products -- Highlighting vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide. This is an attempt to move us from toxic industrial cleaners and even the consumerism of "green" cleaners to simple ingredients proven through time.
2.3.7 Exercise -- A pattern level perspective encouraging people to bring a ten minute exercise routine into their day including forward bend, back bend, twisting, core strengthening and inversion.
2.3.8 Nutrition -- discussing how why and what we eat from a perspective of nourishing our bodies and souls. Includes an Exotic Spice Chart -- In the interest of empowering people to do more cooking at home, I created an exotic spice chart to illustrate that there are really only 3-10 main spices that we need to understand and then begin exploring how we use them.
2.3.9 Babies -- Best practices for babies including nutrition, sleeping and play. I include a description of my favorite baby and child development resources.
2.3.10 Cleansing -- From radiation to poor diet to petroleum plants, a look at what ancient and modern cleansing techniques have included.
2.3.11 Breathing -- Descriptions and videos of some basic yoga pranayamas. Includes Ujjayi breath, Dirga Pranayam, Anuloma Viloma, and Kapalabhati
2.3.12 Stress -- In some ways, all disease circles back around to our levels of stress. This article discusses key strategies for mitigating stress in our life.
2.3.13 Herbal Glossary -- Key terminology from Western perspective. Includes broad pattern level terms for Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine as well.
Movies
Kale Salad making -- Using salting and massage as methods to tenderize kale and get some greens into our life.
Baby Massage -- Liam massages a baby with care and awareness.
Pate Making -- Liam demonstrates making chicken liver pate, a nutrient dense food to bring into your life.
Morning Exercise Routine -- Ten minute exercise routine to invite movement into your spine and open your energy.
Breathing practices -- Liam demonstrates 3 breathing practices: balancing, invigorating, calming.
Dolphin -- I believe the yoga pose dolphin is critical to master for anyone wanting to attain a headstand practice. Headstand is one of the most common ways a beginners can hurt themselves in yoga.
Personally/Life
Went sledding for the first time in 20 years.
More unstructured play and exploration romping through the woods.
5 P's: Political, Patrix, Personal, Professional, Pathway
Personal Great personal growth during this OP. Fundamentally, becoming a teacher of something as crucial as our personal health gives me the time and perspective to examine my own personal practices and where I can apply consideration to improve my health.
Personally, I have
- spent lots more time "playing" outside,
- developed a rigorous commitment to ten minutes of exercise (often multiple times each day)
- embraced my "attitude" as my greatest asset toward finding greater peace, joy and health
- given added time/energy to relationships in my life
- paused when appropriate-- both on a daily scale and even on the scale of renegotiating the OP for my own personal health.
Professional I am very excited about the wealth of articles that will form the basis of my website. Some of this wisdom represents years of intending to create these articles, and I am grateful that I am able to offer these to my clients and the world now.
Planetary I hope that I can be another voice from the holistic health care worldview to contribute to the worldwide conversation of ways to live to find health and happiness.
Patrix Subversive view of the US Healthcare system. Holistic healthcare in line with permaculture values is fundamentally at odds with the US western allopathic approach to medicine especially when it is subsumed by corporate greed and insurance companies. Herbal First Aid Kit and Natural cleaning supplies are clearly two articles that support natural methods of health in contrast to the consumeristic materialistic culture that permaculture attempts to relocalize.
Pathway Moving forward in my MSc completing a wide array of pathway goals in articulating People Care from many perspectives.
Any Next Steps, New Goals
Next Steps
1. Get many of the articles, videos and writings up on my website.
NEW ARTICLES
1. Home water filter
2. Chakra Chart
3. Ayurvedic Article/Page
4. Archetype Page/Article/Chart -- enneagram/ayurveda