Crafting a Healthy Lifestyle

Once we have healing habits, it's easy. Until then, a planned and deliberate framework for healthy living can make an unbelievable difference in our well-being. That framework is going to look different for everyone.

One key thing: our health regimens should be easy, relaxed and joyful. Otherwise, it's just not going to happen. Sure, there's some work involved. But we have to be gentle with ourselves, and forgiving as well.

There are five main areas where we can set healthy intentions that will serve us and our loved ones:

• Learning - Learning can be one of the most joyful and exciting experiences life offers. Have you seen the radiance of children as they make a new discovery about this world? The invitation is to explore ways to be healthy that are fresh, intense and immediately relevant to you. If it's just plain boring, we're doing something wrong.

• State of Mind - Every thought and feeling that moves within us reverberates throughout our nervous system, our metabolism, and our social network. Only when we calm and ground our state of mind can all other aspects of our lifestyle work for us.
  

• Movement and Breathing - "I live, therefore I move." Everyone can find ways of moving and breathing that gets their bodies humming with vitality. Physical limitations are not an issue. In fact, the more limitations there are in the body, the greater the need to move as the body allows.
  

• Diet - A healthy diet will be different for everyone, but there are certain fundamentals. Fresh, organic food is key. The energy put into preparing food definitely pays off in vitality and well-being. And diet is not only about what we eat, but how we eat it! Eat your food with loving gratitude.
  

• Sleep Deep sleep is deeply healing. Yet such refreshing sleep eludes many. There are ways to to maximize good sleep. And when you can't sleep, you can still learn how to rest in quietude and stillness.

Cultivating our own health is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our loved ones, our society and our culture. The recordings in the store and the "In the Palace of Health" Zoom sessions are intended to help you explore all these areas.

I encourage you to set a clear intention and walk the path!

With a wish that all be happy and healthy,

Michael

Pain, Blockage, Flow: Energy Cultivation for the Suffering of the Body

"Since we have a human body, misfortune is inevitable."

– Dao Te Ching

Pain is blockage in the energy flow of life. That is the point of view of Energy Cultivation (Qi Gong).

Some pain is like a tidal wave – so overwhelming there's no way to work with it. But with most pain, there is some latitude. Usually pain waxes and wanes, and there are things we can learn to do in order to get the pain to wax less and wane more.

First of all, pain is a message. It is important to respect the message. This is not so easy, because usually the message is one of limitation. It says, "STOP! Pay attention to me. Figure out what is causing this, and change it!" But we are conditioned to ignore the message of pain. Our culture says, "Suck it up. Keep going. Take a pill. Go faster! Don't be a baby. You are being self-indulgent."

I am always amazed when people with knee problems take Ibuprofen and then go running on concrete. That's like seeing the Check Engine light come on and then covering it up with a post-it note. That's like driving down the road, smelling burning oil, and putting in nose plugs. How could their knee pain not worsen when they suppress the pain message like that?

There is also a fear and survival thread in this tapestry. Limitation creates a powerful, primal feeling of vulnerability. "What will happen if the pain is so bad I can't do my job? How will I survive?" When the herd flees the tiger, the ones with physical limitations are left behind.

The limitations of pain also create a socio-economic descent to a lower level of the human pecking order. This descent creates intense anxiety. Much of our human pecking order is based on how well we can function. At the bottom of that pecking order is displayed people who can't function much at all, sitting at stoplights with hand-scrawled signs, begging. Whatever else you might feel about that, isn't there also a stab of fear which could be summed up as, "There, but for the grace of the fact that I can function, go I."?

When the message of pain is ignored, it just gets louder and louder. The message escalates until there is nothing the person can do about the limitation. You push through the pain until finally, even though you are pushing harder than ever, the body just won't respond to your will.

The metabolic state of the body plays a very important role in the ebb and flow of pain. Inflammation increases pain. Toxins increase inflammation. Anyone who has ever had a terrible headache with a hangover can tell you that. So the more we cool out any state of chronic inflammation, the less likely we are to suffer from pain. This cooling out can be accomplished with diet, breathing, movement and the cultivation of a non-inflammatory state of mind.

This week, we'll talk about how to use Energy Cultivation (Qi Gong) in the context of pain. Some key points:

1. Allowing the full flood of consciousness into the pain area is an essential catalyst in healing. Pain is simply asking for our full attention. When we give it, the need for the body to broadcast the pain message eases. Yet often the impulse is to ignore pain as completely as possible. The Life Energy (Qi) follows awareness. So when we withdraw attention from an area of the body because it hurts, we are depriving that area of the Life Energy and perpetuating the pain.

Of course, I am not advocating that you walk around all day with your mind on the pain. But the benefit of spending some time each day in healing contemplation of the area is crystal clear to me.

Look at it from the point of view of what in medicine we call "splinting." Splinting is when we tighten an area of the body so it doesn't move. The muscle tension creates an immobilizing splint to the area. That way we don't move it inappropriately and create more injury. If one forgets and moves the area freely, there is a jolt of pain – a sharp reminder.

But there is a downside to splinting. Say there is neck pain because of inflammation in the joints of the spine there. That muscle tightness, especially when it is chronic, can cause the joints to grind down on each other, increasing the pain and injury. Once we put attention there and the area can relax, blood flow improves, the inflammatory chemicals of inflammation are cleared, and the pain can decrease.

2. Energy cultivation goes beyond the simply placing of awareness into the body. With attention, visualization and breath we can open blocked areas, let go of the pain template, restore healthy blood flow and correct body alignment.

3. "Motion is the lotion." Many with chronic pain simply immobilize that area of the body indefinitely. But the body needs to be told, "Hey, I need that area, and I need to be able to move it, so let's get healing."

It's a delicate balance between motion and stillness. One scientific study found that for acute back strains, three days of bedrest were great. Beyond that bedrest did more harm that good.

It is important that the motion be skillful. Attempting to jump back to full activity is only going to create more pain and injury. Here is another place where attention and consciousness is crucial. In full consciousness, we get the message very clearly of how much motion is enough. Then we can stop and let the body assimilate.

I was always amazed, when I worked in pain clinics with physical therapy departments, how they would put people to exercise the injured parts while they watched soap operas on a television high above them. If the mind does not pay attention to the motion, the person is receiving no feedback about whether or not the movement is healing or injurious.

4. Touch is healing. When someone is hurt and they receive the kindness of touch, the system immediately calms. We can emit, receive and move a tremendous amount of Life Energy through our hands. Furthermore, by touching we can explore the area and bring more consciousness into it.

Yet I am always amazed by how seldom people touch their pain areas. I think it must be part of trying to ignore the whole situation.

So this is a deep topic. As I said, some pain is so overwhelming it cannot be worked with. But most pain will respond. And with pain, any improvement is welcome. Anyone can learn these simple techniques, and it is my joy to share them in the Palace of Health!

Fasting

Fasting is one of the oldest and most powerful healing techniques.

There is a saying; "Most people dig their graves with their spoons." And they are not using little tiny teaspoons, either.

We are blessed to be a society of great abundance. In the case of food, that abundance can overwhelm the body. Flooded with rich foods day after day, the body struggles valiantly to process it all. Sooner or later, the body falls behind. Byproduct build up, and this triggers inflammation. Then all the chronic degenerative diseases of our civilization set in.

The liver is like a warehouse that receives all the excess nutrition from the gut. The liver becomes inflamed when the body is chronically in a state of "over-nutrition." This inflammation is easy to diagnose on an ultrasound ("fatty liver disease") In the general US adult population, about 25% of people have this type of inflammation in the liver. Among the seriously overweight, 90% have this fatty liver disease.

Western medicine is good at slowing down all the chronic diseases that result. Doctors are good at people less uncomfortable. They call that “palliative therapy.” In other words, being sick is a bitter pill to swallow, but we can do things to make it more palatable. But why get more comfortable in illness when you can head on out toward health?

"Why get more comfortable in illness when you can head toward true health?"

Fasting is one of the oldest and most powerful healing techniques known to us. Digesting food takes a great deal of energy. When we lighten the task of constantly digesting food we don't need, it frees up energy needed for healing. The healing that can come from fasting is well-documented in the medical literature.

But so powerful a tool as fasting has to be used properly. One size does not fit all. The long fasts of just drinking water are for the young and strong. For the less robust person, such a fast could be damaging. We can fast in many ways and for many different lengths of time. One could just eat steamed vegetables, or just drink fresh juices, or take the classical rice and mung bean fast used in India. One could do intermittent fasting, which sets forth a period in each day during which one doesn't eat.

You need to be careful about fasting if you are on medications. People need less medicine for high blood sugar when they fast. Blood pressure medicine may also need adjusting. It's important to talk to your doctor before doing any serious fasting if you are on medications.

There are places one can go to fast. For example, Optimal Health Institute in Southern California offers a vegan, raw food fast and a complete educational program to go with it. True North Health Center in Northern California offers fasting under medical supervision. There are many other possibilities.

Fasting also has a powerful spiritual aspect. "Fasting and prayer" naturally go together. For whatever reason, the mind clears during fasting, the senses sharpen, and we feel more strongly the presence of the Mystery. Conversely, the more the spirit is directed toward the Mystery, whatever word you might use for it, the more the intense addiction to eating too much food eases. Your appetite gets reset.

So whether you would just like to dip your toe in the ocean of fasting possibilities or really jump in, there is a way that is right for you.

Take the highway to health

How to start?

Pick out a reasonable fast, given your schedule and your constitution. It could be just one day where you only eat fruits and vegetables. It could be a few days of not eating between the hours of 6:00 pm and 8:00 am. You have to find out what is right for you. Play with it. Fast with friends. Have one day a week of fasting.

Try to fast when the pressure from other areas of your life is not intense. With fasting we go inward. When there is stress the energy is drawn outward. When you fast, fill your other senses with healing and beauty. Spend a some quiet time. Go in nature.You may be surprised!

The hardest part of any fast is returning to normal eating. There is a tendency to binge, which leaves us right back where we started. Be alert, take it slow, be kind.

So many of us come from a heritage of not enough. If our ancestors starved in a famine, we might inherit a vision of heaven which includes all-you-can-eat buffet. With the abundance of rich food that now comes to us, we get to learn a different lesson – moderation in the face of affluence. Fasting can help us find balance.

Addiction to Looking

The most addictive sense?

“More of our neurons are dedicated to vision than to the other four senses combined. We can easily become addicted to that which is seen, especially when the images are designed to be addictive.”

Addiction to Looking

Half of all our sensory nerves run from the eyes to the brain. No wonder, then, that we can become addicted to looking.

Digital technology is new and powerful. It's going to take time for our nervous systems to adjust. Meanwhile, we need to set some boundaries before it ruins our sanity and our health.

Many live with eyes glued to cellphones and computers, and this is no accident of convenience. Software designers measure the success of their product by "time on device." Whether we know it or not, we now live in what they call "the attention economy." The more they hold your attention, the more money they make. Facebook, Google, YouTube, all the big apps, consciously and deliberately use every trick in the book to get you addicted to using them. And what a bunch of tricks there are!

The advertising industry has been evolving its craft for a long time. When profitable businesses pay $5,000,000 for a 30-second Superbowl ad, that tells you advertising works. They wouldn't spend the money if it didn't make them more money in return.

Now there's a new wrinkle. While we look at the apps, the apps are looking right back at us. Most are recording every click, listening to the words we speak, scanning our emails for keywords, and even tracking how our eyes roam over the page via the cameras in our devices. They process the results using advanced statistics analysis and artificial intelligence. This is now called "surveillance capitalism."

Technology is great when used in a humane, compassionate way. Big Tech is not going to lead us to that humanity. We are responsible for evolving that ourselves.

How can we start to unplug from addiction to looking at computers and cellphones and instead use digital technology in a balanced, sane way?

The first step is to understand how we are being manipulated and addicted.

The Method of the Madness

Apps are designed with four parts to suck us in and keep us in:

1. Trigger

2. Action

3. Reward

4. Investment.

1. The Trigger

 The trigger is whatever gets you to engage the application. There are two types of triggers – internal and external.

 The external triggers prompt the person toward the app. This might a chime that sounds when an email comes in, an update notification on an app, or just a pop-up ad.

The goal of the external triggers is to establish internal triggers. Internal triggers are thoughts and emotional states which prompt the user to engage the app. The internal triggers are like an itch that drives the person to use the app.

The most common and powerful internal triggers are negative. Loneliness, frustration, fear, anxiety and boredom stimulate us to seek relief, and the goal of software design is to associate that relief with using the technology. But of course the relief is only transient and temporary.

 2. The Action

The trigger gets us to take some action. We feel disconnected, so we check our Facebook page. We feel bored, so we surf the web. We feel uncertain, so we search on Google. We feel cut off, so we check our emails.

The easier the action, the more addictive the app. The ideal is that the action involves only one click or swipe, and that the reward comes very quickly. The simpler the action and the faster the reward, the more addictive the app.

3. The Reward

 The reward could be many things, such as the prospect of knowledge, power or wealth. It could be pleasure at a beautiful sight. The satisfaction of curiosity is also an extremely powerful drive in humans.

But for my money, the most powerful reward that drives humans is the need to be connected to other humans. Connectivity.

One thing about reward which Ivan Pavlov discovered more than 100 years ago - any activity is more addictive if the reward is unpredictable. The variability of reward introduces an element of mystery, suspense and excitement which we find irresistible.

Just watch gamblers at a slot machine. Slots machines have an average payback per cent, which set by the casino. For example, the casino in Central City, Colorado returns, on average over time, 95% of what the player puts in. Now just imagine if every single time a player put a one dollar piece in the slot machine, 95 cents came back. Not exciting, not interesting, and definitely not addictive.

I have heard it said that Google deliberately varies the time it takes to load search results and emails exactly because variable reward time is more addictive.

The reward must be powerful, but not completely fulfilling. “Always leave them wanting more,” as P.T. Barnum allegedly put it. Incomplete fulfillment. This isn’t really an issue on smart phones or computers because all the experiences are simulated.

The pixels which make up an image of a beautiful sunset are only an echo of the true experience. The voice of our loved one that says, “I love you” over video conferencing is only a tinny reproduction. On Zoom or cell phone calls, many of the high and low frequencies of a live human voice are trimmed off to keep the bandwidth low. And that “I love you” can never come with a hug. The voice never comes with the scent of the loved one. And scent is primal.

The dynamics of all addiction are such that we are driven toward some experience, but the intensity of the experience never quite lives up to the intensity of the drive. The real piece of cake is never as fulfilling as the fantasy piece of cake. The fantasy, after all, is based on the memory of the original piece of cake. And the supernormal stimulation of that first piece of cake has already dulled our

perceptions. The first shot of whiskey is always the tastiest. The first puff of that cigarette is always the most delightful. After that, it's all downhill. 

4. Investment

Finally, some investment must be created for the user, so that they are even more motivated to return. It’s a little nudge toward further use. We build up some kind of equity above and beyond the basic reward of using the app. It's like the rewards card in stores, or the points you get for using your credit.

 One of the most powerful enticements is belonging. The need for  membership in a social group is deep and powerful within us. After all, before civilization you were pretty much dead if you didn't have a tribe. Getting in the with in-crowd, and FOMO (fear of missing out) movers a lot of us to upgrade to the paid membership.

Also, on many sites we store information, contacts and preferences. All these motivate us to return rather than using some alternate service where we would have to reenter that information and learn how to use the site all over again.

iSelf eDefense

OK, so how can we take responsibility and make technology our servant instead of being its slave? Here are some ideas:

 1. When you have a choice, prioritize on less addictive modalities.

      In-the-room human contact > Zoom;

      Zoom > Cellphone;

      Cellphone > Voice text;

      Voice Text > Written text;

      Text > Email;

      Nature > picture or video of nature.

2. Take an electronic fast. For a day, an hour, or even just five minutes, turn off all electronic devices (or at least silence them). You’ll be surprised how your nervous system settles and the world looks different.

 3. Try an electronic curfew - after a certain time of day, the electronics go off.

 4. Turn your cellphone to Grayscale. This takes the color out of it, which makes it less addictive. (for iPhone users, go into settings and search “Gray”).

5. Turn off all notifications except from living, breathing people. (look under “Settings>Notifications).

6. Try limiting your smart phone home screen to tools only. Put the attention suckers and time wasting apps over to screens that you have to swipe to reach.

 7. Charge your device outside the bedroom. Get an old-fashioned alarm clock. Studies show people sleep less when the cellphone is in the bedroom

8. Do something real first thing in the morning. Don't check your cellphone and computer right away.

9. OK, we’re getting hardcore here: Delete all social media apps off of the cellphone. (Just follow them on the computer, or not at all).

The basic currency of human life remains the same.

Technology is wondrous, powerful and extremely gratifying. I reflect with gratitude on technology every time I adjust how hot the water is in my shower. Incredible! Let's see you top that, caveman. I shiver with delight every time I adjust the thermostat in my bedroom.

But the basic currency of human life remains the same – Kindness to each other. Connection to each other. Connection to Nature and to the web of life. Let's consciously learn to bring our new technologies into our lives in a healthy way.

With a wish that all be happy and healthy,

Michael

connect

“The opposite of addiction is not abstinence.

The opposite of addiction is connection.”

-Johann Hari

Welcome to the Feast

Getting and staying healthy is a lifelong cultivation

My heart wish is that you, everyone, be healthy and healed.

After more than forty years in the healing arts and medicine, I have some things to say. So I retired from clinic and started to teach.

Getting and staying healthy is a lifelong cultivation. I would like to plunge in with some key points, since many of you who read this will be carried away on the digital winds, clicking onward before going deeper.

1. State of mind is the single most important factor in health, and illness. The body responds chemically to every thought and feeling.

2. Illness is, above all, an invitation to wake up and change.

3. True healing requires time, energy, and a very clear intention to heal.

4. What you believe can kill you. Changing what you believe can save your life.

5. Life and nature always flow naturally. Harmonizing with that flow is fundamental to health and healing.

There is much more, but these are the seeds. Everyone focuses on the perfect diet, the right supplements or the best workout. That stuff is important, too, but it is secondary.

Please know that society is not going to support you much on your path towards health. If you want to stay vital and alive, you are, in a sense, swimming against the flow. Our culture supports frenzy, not calm and regeneration. Our culture supports junk food, not simple nourishing food. We will need a clear intention and a clear plan if we do not want to get carried away on the tide that has brought us the real epidemics of diabetes, heart attacks, cancer, depression, suicide and more.

Borrowing a phrase from ancient China, I say we are working here in the "Palace of Health". I talk about specific areas I consider very important in this Palace. These are:

Learning

• State of Mind

• Breathing

• Movement

• Diet

• Being in Nature

• Human contact

• Sleep

The first step? Place your attention on health and start learning how to navigate. Since there are so many different and conflicting ideas about health floating around these days, this navigation may not be as simple as it sounds. I am empowering you to find your own true path to health and healing. Everyone brings to the Palace of Health their own unique perspective. Everyone's perspective is respected and valued. In the Palace of health the group empowers and supports you, the individual, to find your own true path to health.

The high points of my career in healing are always when someone gets benefit.  An amazing benefit for me has been a sort of backstage pass into other peoples' lives. Meeting so many people and hearing so many heartfelt stories has deepened me from a relatively self-absorbed and uncaring young man to someone who has compassion for others, and in the end, also for myself.

Here is the feast. It took me a long time to get it ready. And if it's not to your taste, move on. Keeping looking for a way to heal. Stay steady as she goes, and you will find your way. Every raindrop follows a different course, returning to the ocean.

With a wish that all be healthy and happy,

Michael