the next healing frontier

The five eras of healing, as presented in The Healing Code book by Drs. Alexander Loyd and Ben Johnson, is an eye opening way to look at the history of medicine and healing and where we currently stand.             According to the authors the five historical stages we have gone through are praying and the belief in healing, herbal remedies, pharmaceutical/chemical remedies, surgery, and now energy healing. It is thought provoking to look at it from that perspective as we are beginning to realize the limitations of both surgery and pharmaceuticals, our most recent eras, although both can of course do wonders in critical and acute conditions.  When surgery is used for the removal of a malignant condition, removal doesn't always seem to get to the bottom of a condition and it may return, i.e. tumors. Pharmaceuticals have side effects, often debilitating, i.e. chemotherapy, and suppress or displace symptoms without healing the underlying condition. Moreover, pharmaceuticals can't seem to heal chronic conditions, merely keeping them in check.

Energy medicine, on the other hand, besides having no side effects and healing gently (no invasive procedures, no cutting), can dissolve underlying emotional knots, conditions and trauma, which have manifested in physical symptoms, dissolving those along the way. Mainstream medicine will of course resist this low tech approach as very little money is to be made compared to the billions that now flow into the medical and pharmaceutical industries. The fact that we call them industries is a problem in itself.  How about calling alternative healing modalities healing arts instead?

more time for lunch

"Madame," the waiter in the small town of Amboise in France said to me with a serious face, "I cannot serve you if you don't have enough time for lunch." My daughter and I were on a breath taking whirlwind group tour through France and Spain and we had a 2:30 château visit scheduled. We had just breezed into town from Chartres. It was 1:45 when we sat down in the little sidewalk café, and I had just told the waiter that we had 45 minutes for lunch - not a lot. Well, the French like to take their time with meals, and rightfully so, have their wine, linger, chat - especially on the week-end. And here I came to tell the waiter to rush, on a Saturday of all days. It went very much against his grain as well as mine. I hate to rush meals. As a matter of fact, I hate to rush, period. Life doesn't get much better than a lazy summer lunch in a small French town in a small restaurant, choosing whatever house specialty is on the blackboard that day - a delicious tuna tartar one day, this time a big salad with roasted pork belly and local goat cheese, another time grilled squid and vegetables and an octopus salad, a glass of wine from the area, watching the people passing by, listening to the birds, and enjoying the fantastic weather.

Life is better when it's slow.

the lightness of summer

Summer has something carefree about it, something lighthearted.   The kids are home from school and college, schedules tend to be looser, cities empty out as people go away, outdoor cafés and restaurants are filled as we yearn for meals under the blue or starry sky, farmer's markets sell a bounty of flowers in poppy colors, we wear lighter and brighter clothes, and everything just seems, well, bouncier. This energy is a great contrast to the heavier ambiance of the colder months - at least for those of us who don't live in southern climes.  Being aware of the change in energies with the seasons makes it possible to live each season more fully, more aware, more in sync with nature and the universe. Summer energy means eating lighter (more greens, more raw stuff, more fruits), adding color to your menu (red chard, orange and yellow peppers, yellow corn, tomatoes in all kinds of colors, red kale, green peas, purple carrots) and wardrobe (more flowery patterns, splashes of color), spending more time outdoors, bringing the outdoors in with flowers, cooking outside, opening your windows to let the breeze in, breathing deeper, singing while you make the beds - you get it.

Live lightly, enjoy the lightness!