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    • Jan

    8

    Did Jesus Fast? and Other Thoughts

    Filed Under health, islam, politics, questions, spiritual practice | 3 Comments

    Today is the 8th of the month, so I am fasting. I’m not hungry or thirsty, but I feel the impulse to eat - out of habit, I think.

    When I woke up this morning, the predominant thought in my brain was a Muslim hadith (tradition) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad:

    The worst vessel that the son of Adam can fill is his stomach.

    And his advice was to eat enough to keep your backbone straight, but if you need to eat more, fill 1/3 of the stomach with food, 1/3 with water, and leave 1/3 for air.

    Muhammad advocated moderation when it came to food - and if one must err, his suggestion was to err on the side of less, not more.

    I absolutely feel better when I eat less, so long as I’m eating nutritious foods. Both my brain and body feel more clear and unencumbered. But overeating is a habit with negative consequences for me. And it’s so easy with delicious food all around!

    So I’ve been thinking on that for a bit, too. The other thing on my mind is: did Jesus fast - apart from the 40 days and 40 nights? Was it a regular practice for him?

    And - I wonder this very idly - do any of the current presidential candidates fast? So often these politicians talk about their religious beliefs, but I don’t care about that (the UU in me). I want to know what they do - what is their spiritual practice? That would tell me a lot, perhaps too much.

    Popularity: 38% [?]

    Dec

    22

    Seemingly Random Food and Vitamin Choices

    Filed Under health, lil things, new things | 2 Comments

    About two weeks ago, my Nurse Practitioner suggested I start taking folic acid. While at the pharmacy, I impulsively grabbed a bottle of B12 vitamin pills - for no apparent reason. Since then, I’ve made a half hearted attempt to take the pills, roughly taking them every other day.

    The last three nights I’ve had some really vivid and complex dreams. I even woke up in the middle of the night and resumed the same dream - a very rare occurrence for me. As an adolescent I had dreams like this, but as an adult, I’m either too exhausted or too distracted (or too old?) to dream - or remember my dreams. This morning I woke up and realized this was strange.  Immediately I asked, “What have I been eating/doing differently?” To my knowledge, there’s nothing new in my diet, except the increase in Folic Acid and B12.

    I Googled “B12 and dreams” and a whole bunch of things came up! Turns out there are maybe some links between B12 and memory, and lucid dreaming.

    This sort of reminds me of when I went through a phase five summers ago of suddenly eating cherries all the time. I had no idea why; I just wanted cherries. I was eating about a pound of them every day. Normally I am a solid sleeper, but at the time I was sleeping very poorly. After a week or so of eating hundreds of cherries, I was going out like a light at 10pm as soon as my head hit the pillow; at 6 the next morning I was up and ready to go. Later, I learned that cherries are one of the few foods that naturally contain melatonin, which aids sleep patterns. It really made me wonder about food cravings, and whether my body could have known that cherries would/were help/ing me.

    The interesting thing about the B12 - beyond the vivid dreams - is that I’ve been worrying for a while about my memory. Increasingly I just draw complete blanks about things. I don’t know if that’s normal, physiological, behavioral, or what. I’ll just have to pay close attention over the coming year to see if there’s any improvement.

    Popularity: 17% [?]

    Sep

    10

    Thoughts on Mental Health

    Filed Under health, rants | 3 Comments

    In response to a recent post on mental health at Phil’s Little Blog on the Prairie:

    I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually more people than not were diagnosed with a mental “illness” of some type - whether it’s depression, OCD, ADD, an eating disorder, anxiety, addiction, or whatever. There’s a lot of work being done on getting people to either talk  (therapy and talk shows) or pop pills in order to solve their mental health “problems.” I wish there was more emphasis on helping people to evaluate their lives and decide what they want to BE (and “normal” doesn’t count).

    Then again, are there enough people to guide them through that process?

    You don’t have to be free of psychological “problems” to be fulfilled.  But it is important not to feel desperate, panicked and alone all the time. It is important to be emotionally available to others, to feel connected, to participate in your own life.

    The way we address mental health in our society is like replacing a broken part in a machine. Oh, let’s just replace this or tape that back together so the person can get back to work (or school, in the case of a child), wave a flag, and buy more stuff. We’re all walking around expecting to interact with a certain kind of person, and even those of us who know we are so, so screwed up, expect everyone else to have it together.

    I’m starting to wonder: what do we really expect? Can we analyze and medicate our way to contentment?  I’m not anti-therapy or anti-psychiatry, but when I read from NIMH that every year, one out of every four adult US Americans has a mental illness,  I have to wonder: who is this perfect human specimen we’re all supposed to be?

    In Phil’s comments, the issue of low income folks and mental illness comes up. I think the reason they are not paid as much attention to is because it’s assumed that if you’re poor your life IS depressing or chaotic, so it surprises no one if you are, too.

    Popularity: 16% [?]

    Aug

    29

    Full Steam Ahead: What’s Going On

    Filed Under being creative, friends, health, lil things, local, movies, plans, small happinesses | 2 Comments

    I think I’m addicted to Facebook. Just a little bit. It’s pretty awesome. There are a lot of other things going on, though. Like writing for HealthyNerds - I have to build up a reservoir of posts for those days when I’m not home (my goal is to post daily for my clients). And I’m also working hard to find more clients. I really enjoy the coaching aspect, but being my own boss means putting myself out there and risking failure! And talking to new people all the time - that’s my big challenge. That, and being consistent. Doing a little bit every day. The skills I’m having to learn as a new health coach will serve me well in all aspects of my life, especially as I pursue a writing career. (Yes, me too!)

    Which reminds me: I decided to apply for a women’s writers-in-residence program. I don’t really know how that works, or whether I have any chance of getting in, but it can’t hurt to apply, and it will be good to have my “samples” all ready to send out at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, I have to include in my application “why this program will be of benefit to me.” *balk* Pray for me, is all I have to say. That’s due in a couple of weeks, and I still have two poems to finish for that package.

    Beginning tomorrow I’ll be a landlady for the first time! My new tenants seem to be a nice young couple, and my place seems a good match for them. Keeping fingers crossed that the next year is delightful and low-key. Tonight, however, I’m cleaning in preparation for the couple’s move-in. I hired a cleaning service and they didn’t do a spectacular job. The DH and I were dealing with several properties at one point this year, and I can definitely attest to the fact that “good help is hard to find.” Our gardening guy flaked out on us, a cleaning lady showed up 12 hours late, and the pressure washer dude charged $500 for a few hours of work. But the man who installed the new baseboard trim finished two days ahead of time, and the landscaper did a fabulous job with no drama. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

    This weekend I’m going to the Redlands with a UU friend I’m getting to know better. She and I (and another woman I don’t know), will be staying at a top rated hostel and going hiking. Yay! Hoping to get some new photos out of the trip, and at least one good writing piece.

    Later in September: starting off several new clients the day after Labor Day; a joint birthday party/camping trip with several other Virgoan friends; producer training at the cable access channel in town; taking swimming lessons from my dad; riding the bike around the neighborhood; writing lots more poetry; facilitating a book group for the Real Wealth of Nations; the Portland Spelling Bee; and experimenting with our new outdoor grill. Oh, and I think I’m going to bow out of ushering from church this year. I’ve been late to a couple of Sundays and after four years I think it’s time to find another way to serve!

    My friend Claire introduced me to a new word: Organi-tarian. It describes meat eaters who strive to support humane treatment of their animal food sources. I think Claire made this word up, so yay for Claire!

    Right now, I’m looking forward to the last month of summer, and hoping that somewhere between the reading, writing, and putting myself out there, I’ll be able to keep up with the laundry, the housework, the yard work, and my friends. Oh, and I’ve definitely got to see Christian Bale’s new movie, 3:10 to Yuma.

    Popularity: 24% [?]

    Jul

    27

    Colorado

    Filed Under away from home, being creative, health, photos, small happinesses | 1 Comment

    As it turns out, I’m having a GREAT time at the Take Shape for Life health coach convention. Tons of great, friendly people and wonderful information sessions. Not to mention, the beautiful scenery. Tomorrow morning, Robert Fritz will be speaking to us - he wrote a book I loved, “The Path of Least Resistance.”

    Today I’ve been in workshops, but yesterday I managed to take a three hour walk from one end of the resort to another.

    3 Trees at Keystone

    River View at Keystone

    Condos at Keystone

    Popularity: 28% [?]

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