Pasque Flower
17 May 2012 11 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative medicine, art, flowers, healing, health, nature, photography, photos
Recently, we visited at a local botanical garden where we saw these lovely, colorful Pasque flowers in it’s Medicinal Garden section. The blooms and seed heads were mingled with each other creating a nice contrast to me. As I was taking photos, we saw the following sign next to the flowers:
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Interesting. I had not heard of Pasque Flower before, so later, I looked it up on Wikipedia. Pasque refers to Easter, and the flower blooms in early spring. It also states Pulsatilla have been used to treat reproductive problems, and that the plant “is highly toxic, and produces cardiogenic toxins and oxytoxins which slow the heart in humans…” Also, Drugs.com refers to Pasque flower as “extremely toxic and should not be ingested or applied to the skin.” Such a pretty flower, and it sounds like one needs to be very careful around this plant.
Related articles:
Emotion: Feeling Irritable?
03 May 2012 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: art, emotions, haiku, healing, health, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, psychology
>>:::<<
nerves yearning for fly swatters
while tormented by hornets
irritable
>>:::<<
Are you feeling extra touchy? (male finch on the left with the evil eye)
Do others feel like they are walking on eggshells around you? (female finch on the right)
Irritability is a normal emotion depending on your condition, health, stressors, hormones, etc. Here are some tools and links that may help with the emotion:
- Managing symptoms by expression helps reduce tension and irritability:
- Talk out your emotions with a good friend or relative
- Write about your feelings in a journal or through poetry
- Cry. It is “part of a healthy emotional healing process”
- Express yourself through art, photography or crafts
- Exercise regularly
- Practice deep breathing exercises
- Maintain healthy eating habits
- Addressing Emotional Pain #2 – Tools
- Addressing Emotional Pain #4 – Secondary Emotions
Emotion: Lonely
12 Apr 2012 10 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: art, emotions, haiku, healing, health, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, psychology
>>:::<<
Calm, cool water
embracing each drop of rain
The lake hides my tears
>>:::<<
Expanding on my last post about “loneliness” versus “aloneness” I’m using this photo to represent both being alone and being lonely. By the way, does anyone know what kind of bird this is?
(I’m using one of my artwork “tools” again to help address emotions. See my posting on Addressing Emotional Pain #2 – Tools.)
Other postings in my “Emotion:” series:
Emotion: Loneliness (versus Aloneness)
29 Mar 2012 11 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: art, emotions, haiku, healing, health, mind/body, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry, psychology
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As they pertain to emotions, my interpretation of “aloneness” and “loneliness” are:
- Aloneness – a geographical separation, apartness or isolation from other people (your health condition can contribute or cause you to be separate and alone); a mental separation from others (such as being focused in an activity by yourself).
- Loneliness – a separation from others due to a lack of connection with people, or lacking emotional support, compassion and encouragement.
This first photo demonstrates “aloneness” to me. Even though one can feel alone and lonely at the same time, I get a feeling of peace, calmness, content and warmth from looking at this photo. The butterfly is alone and immersed in collecting nectar, but does not appear to be lonely at all.
I used the second photo below to demonstrate emotional loneliness. Even though people may be physically very close, the emotional distance between them can be as far apart as the planet Pluto is from the Sun. They are not looking at each other, they are not connecting, they are not listening to each other, and they may not be supporting each other emotionally. I also feel a lack of compassion. The snow and ice also adds to the coldness of this photo.
>>:::<<
Sitting together
an admirable closeness
Deafening silence
>>:::<<
I’m using one of my artwork “tools” again to help address emotions. See my posting on Addressing Emotional Pain #2 – Tools.
Other postings in my “Emotion:” series:
Support and Encouragement
20 Mar 2012 10 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative medicine, chronic pain, emotions, encouragement, healing, health, invisible illness, photography, photos, psychology, support
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True friends and family fly to you when you don’t have the ability to fly yourself. They support, comfort and encourage you physically and emotionally. ~ Fergiemoto
Finch (right): “I’m so discouraged.”
Junco (left): “I’m there for you. How can I help? You can talk to me…I really mean it.”
Remember that close friends and relatives struggling with chronic/invisible illnesses or pain need us to be there for them. Here are some ways to show support and encouragement:
- Slow down. Listen with your whole body and 100% of your attention. Look at them and acknowledge you are truly hearing what they are saying. To the person talking, this is more valuable than all the gold in the world. Never underestimate the power of holding the space for someone who needs a listening ear. You may be their life-line.
- Let them know you are truly there for them and that you are listening. Silence when a person needs to know someone is really there can lead them to feel lonely.
- Avoid interrupting them while they are talking. Let them finish speaking before you respond. When you are talking, you are not listening.
- Allow the person to feel just as they are. Avoid judgment, lecturing, criticizing, ridiculing, etc. Telling them to tough it out, quit complaining, pull it together, they have a low pain tolerance, they’re crazy, it’s not a big deal, or threatening to stay away can lead to negative results. Sometimes the pain inside is much more intense than the pain they are showing.
- Be there with them, physically and emotionally. Don’t try to fix it. More
“Celebrate The Small Successes!”
14 Mar 2012 8 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative medicine, chronic pain, emotions, healing, health, mind/body, pain, psychology
Baby steps…toddler steps…sometimes this is the pace we have to take to achieve our end goals and desires. Overcoming any kind of struggle can be very daunting, frustrating and discouraging, and setting large goals can seem overwhelming. They require patience that sometimes we don’t think we have anymore. It’s easy to get over-ambitious and all too often, we are looking for an overnight success, which is understandable. In the meantime, we overlook and neglect the small accomplishments that lead to larger victories. Busy schedules can bog us down; pain can seem to overtake our entire waking moments that we wonder if there is ever an end; then we miss the chance to celebrate those wins. Progress is good at any level because it means we are headed in the right direction. I realize this is easier said than done. Believe me, I’ve been there many times.
When you have a success, do you say a quick “yay”, move on as if nothing special happened, and then rarely or never give it another thought? The next time you have a success, remember this: Recognize…Reward…and Celebrate! You are working hard to reach your goal, so don’t brush it aside. The body and mind need the reinforcement and encouragement. When you celebrate, you are helping to breed an attitude of “I’m successful” to your mind, which will then breed more success. One success leads to another to another and hopefully you will accelerate the process of reaching your goals, i.e., the snowball effect. Mental health affects physical health. More
A Short History of Medicine (Joke)
06 Mar 2012 8 Comments
in Alternative Medicine, Conventional Medicine Tags: alternative medicine, conventional medicine, drugs, healing, health, humor, jokes, medications, side effects
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A Short History of Medicine
“Doctor, I have an ear ache.”
2000 BC – “Here, eat this root.”
1000 BC – “That root is heathen, say this prayer.”
1850 AD – “That prayer is superstition, drink this potion.”
1940 AD – “That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill.”
1985 AD – “That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic.”
2000 AD – “That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!”
The source of this joke is unknown, but when I saw it on Magsx2 blog, it caught my attention. (I can really relate to the last line of the joke!)
Addressing Emotional Pain #4 – Secondary Emotions
23 Feb 2012 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative medicine, emotions, healing, health, meditation, mind/body, mindfulness, pain, psychology
Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering the self is true power. ~ Lao Tzu
Recognizing our primary and secondary emotions helps us understand what our core emotions and issues are. I talked a little about core issues in my previous post on body awareness. Simply, secondary emotions occur in response to a primary emotion. Eventually we may unknowingly bury our primary emotions until they are unrecognizable. The problem with this is that we may think our secondary emotions are what we are really feeling, and address those, rather than addressing the true and primary emotions.
Anger is a good example of a secondary emotion. Anger is usually a response to a primary emotion or situation. When we get behind our anger, we may discover that there is a different emotion at the core, such as shame, fear, worry, guilt, embarrassment, regret, sadness, loneliness, etc. Anger, although an intense emotion, is more acceptable and easier to admit to than showing vulnerability. If a primary emotion is shame, people usually don’t want to admit to shame, so they may respond with anger instead. Some will want to push back for safety, and get away from the true emotion with a few sharp words of anger.
Irritability can be a similar response to anger. It is usually a secondary emotion (other than hormonal). What about anxiety? It could be a secondary emotion to fear.
If we don’t address our primary emotions, they likely won’t go away. We may not express them for a variety of reasons, such as habit, upbringing, social situations, etc. Therefore, secondary emotions may end up hindering us because we are not addressing the real issue, nor are we expressing them appropriately. Also, we probably won’t be able to understand what our primary emotions are without understanding how to use self-awareness tools, some of which I have talked about in this blog. Tools such as body awareness, mindfulness meditation, emotion focus therapy, guided imagery, downward arrow exercise, and so on, really help us listen to our bodies and feelings. You may have a different tool that you have found to be effective for you. Something to keep in mind is to keep asking yourself, “what am I feeling…what else am I feeling…what else…what else?”
It’s like deconstructing a recipe. When you taste something, there is an interplay of ingredients that make up the overall taste. But savor the flavors and notice the individual tastes and sensations. What’s making up the taste? For example, you may find that you taste cinnamon, pepper, lemon, etc. So..…what’s really making up your emotions? Try to deconstruct it and see what you find.
Don’t always be comfortable with your first emotion. Try to find out what it is really about. Recognizing deeper emotions can be very helpful part of a healing process!
Related articles:
Emotion: Discouraged
12 Feb 2012 7 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: art, emotions, haiku, health, mind/body, nature, pain, photography, photos, poems, poetry, psychology
>>:::<<
Vicissitudes swarm
Thriving on a carousel
Dreams evaporate
>>:::<<
Finch: ”What!? The other birds didn’t leave me any birdseed. Bummer! That’s discouraging.”
(Chronic ailments holding you back, leaving you feeling isolated? Healing taking a long time? Struggles visit unexpectedly or overstaying their welcome? Many situations can leave a person feeling discouraged.) I’m using one of my artwork “tools” again to help address emotions. See my posting on Addressing Emotional Pain #2 – Tools.
Related article:
- Waiting. Sadness. – apostolcornel.wordpress.com
Other postings in my “Emotion:” series:
- Emotion: Anger
- Emotion: Fear
- Emotion: DoWnS and uPs
- Emotion: Irritable
- Emotion: Anticipation
- Emotion: Joy
Addressing Emotional Pain #3 – Body Awareness
30 Jan 2012 4 Comments
in Alternative Medicine Tags: alternative medicine, art, emotions, haiga, haiku, health, mind/body, mindfulness, pain, photography, poetry, psychology
Today, I expand on my earlier postings on body awareness as a tool for addressing emotional pain. I’ve learned many important and enlightening things during my treatment sessions, which I share here…and yes, they are helping.
- “Emotion Focus Therapy” – Becoming more aware of the complexity and nature of feelings.
- “Mindfulness” – Noticing what you are feeling and where you are feeling certain emotions in the body.
- Emotion Focus Therapy and Mindfulness go hand in hand. You have to be mindful of the body to identify what emotions are present.
- Identifying emotions combined with body awareness helps get to the core of issues and feelings. Understanding emotions helps to realize what needs changing so they don’t persist and perpetuate a problem in the body.
- Body awareness helps address and process emotions, and gives the associated energy an outlet.
- Gradual exposure to an emotion, such as with body awareness, will lessen the intensity and lead to a greater understanding of what is happening.
- Emotions can motivate people to take action and address them.
- Every emotion has a corresponding physical manifestation. This means that there is some sensation in the body occurring at the same time as the emotion (“I’m so sad my heart hurts.” “I’m so angry my stomach is churning” etc.). There can also be a chemical change in the body. Hence:
- The mind and body are connected. They are in harmony to protect you and are not fighting against each other. “Dualism is dead!”
- Remember, “It’s natural to have emotional ups and downs,” per Dr. Andrew Weil on Spontaneous Happiness. More
Addressing Emotional Pain #2 – Tools
19 Jan 2012 14 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative medicine, art, creativity, emotions, guided imagery, healing, health, meditation, mind/body, psychology
Emotion is the chief source of all becoming-conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion. ~ Carl Jung
The key message from my last posting was that emotions, painful ones, need to be represented and processed – they need an outlet. Emotions in general are natural, and they are going to happen. If you try to stop, distract, dismiss,or suppress them, they just find another way to show up. Pain tells us something needs attention.
Since I don’t require medication, and cannot take them anyway, I prefer to use tools to address emotions. Here, I will share some of what I have learned. Many are a repeat or a variation of the tools I listed for addressing physical pain, but I will list them anyway. There are several, but in my opinion, you can never have too many good tools in your toolbox. Some tools are used more than others, some work better than others given the situation, sometimes you need a combination of tools, and others are used infrequently, but it sure is nice to have them when you need them. Everyone needs to find what works best for them with proper guidance from a healthcare provider.
Remember: Distracting an emotion is like taking an aspirin – it just masks the symptoms and doesn’t get at the root. Eventually, the aspirin wears off and the pain returns.
Tools
- Talk to some you can confide in 100% – Talking and expressing your feelings is a key tool, and the most important for me. To be effective, the person you talk to needs to give you their full attention and genuinely want to listen. More
Addressing Emotional Pain #1
10 Jan 2012 9 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alternative medicine, chronic pain, emotions, healing, health, invisible illness, pain, psychology
”Tears expand you, they don’t diminish you.” ~ Michael Ondaatje
“We are expanded by tears, not reduced by them.” ~ anon
I’ve learned many important things about pain, physical and emotional, in my various treatment sessions over the last year and a half. I will share more of them here and in later postings.
If you experience pain, have you heard things like: “It’s all in your head.”; “It’s psychological.”; “You have a low tolerance for pain.”; “You’re not handling pain very well.”; “Pull yourself together and quit complaining.”; “Tough it out.”; “Quit crying.”; etc.
If so, how did that make you feel? Did you feel like it was an attempt to minimize what you are experiencing, or that the person didn’t care about how you were feeling? In my opinion, those and similar statements would hinder communication and trust at a time when support and encouragement are needed. Did you feel like you were weak and that you needed to be a “stronger” person? Read the quote at the top of this post again. More
Addressing Physical Pain
03 Jan 2012 9 Comments
in Alternative Medicine Tags: acupuncture, alternative medicine, chronic pain, creativity, healing, health, massage therapy, meditation, mind/body, pain, psychology
The best way out is always through. ~ Robert Frost
If you are going through hell, keep going. ~ Winston Churchill
If you are a chronic pain sufferer, you probably have days that are more of a struggle than others. Some even seem impossible to get through, but fortunately, those days are getting fewer and fewer for me.
There are many ways to address physical pain, chronic or not, but with helpful guidance from my healers, here are techniques and exercises I have learned. The exercises are much easier said than done, but practice helps.
- Meditation - This includes “mindfulness meditation.” Meditation helps with relaxing which can help decrease pain.
- Have someone to confide in 100% - Talking it out or leaning on a compassionate shoulder can be very helpful. To be effective, that person needs to give you their full attention and genuinely want to listen.
“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection”. ~ Dalai Lama - Body awareness – As explained to me, “sometimes the way out of pain is to go right through it.”
- Be in the “moment” - Give yourself a break and be in the present. For that time, don’t think about what might happen in the future, or think “what if this never goes away”. Don’t think about how difficult the road to the present has been.
- Gather Moments – Rewind through the activities of a a particularly bad day to find the good things that happened. Write it down and soon you will have a “bouquet of moments” to recall for other challenging days.
- Celebrate the small successes – It’s important to recognize and reward progress.
More
Emotion: Anticipation
31 Dec 2011 9 Comments
in Photomanipulation Tags: art, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poems, poetry
>>:::<<
Glorious desires
to soar fresh wisps of heavens.
Awaiting next year!
>>:::<<
Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(Click here for a New Year greeting on my creativity blog.)
Emotion: Joy
23 Dec 2011 10 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: art, etegami, haiku, photography, poems, poetry
>>:::<<
Blissful vibrations
Delights of grandeur pours from
such simplicity!
>>:::<<
In the spirit of the holiday season, I am posting an image to represent the emotion of “joy.” I will resume with more written posts and images after the new year. (Click here to see a different haiku for the same image.) Happy Holidays everyone!!
- Etegami 絵手紙 – Japanese word meaning picture letter/message, traditionally done in a postcard size meant to be mailed. See my original posting here on etegami.
- Yorokobi 喜び - Joy
Other postings in my “Emotion:” series:
Emotion: Irritable
11 Dec 2011 9 Comments
in Photomanipulation Tags: art, haiga, haiku, photography, photos, poems, poetry
>>:::<<
Fluttering embers
Glowing, traversing vigor.
Prodding annoyance.
>>:::<<
When I saw these two, it seemed like the duck facing us was irritated by the other duck.
Other postings in my “Emotion:” series:
Alternative Treatment Results – Migraines
30 Nov 2011 8 Comments
in Alternative Medicine Tags: acupuncture, alternative medicine, craniosacral, health, meditation, migraines, mind/body
Those of us who have experienced migraines know they are not “just headaches.” It’s a debilitating, excruciating experience. A migraine leaves me with nausea, sharp and intense one-sided throbbing head pain and sometimes dizziness. I have to lie down in a dark, quiet room for several hours, and sometimes days, until it has run its course. It’s impossible to function. Since I prefer to be a functioning person rather than confined to bed, I needed to identify my migraine triggers and manage those. I’ve boiled those triggers down to the following:
- Stress
- Certain foods
- Hormonal
- Fragrance/chemical sensitivities More
Alternative Treatment Results – Digestion
20 Nov 2011 5 Comments
in Alternative Medicine Tags: acupuncture, alternative medicine, craniosacral, health, massage therapy, mind/body, shiatsu
In this post, I thought I would include some of my experiences and results with alternative treatments specifically with the digestive issues that baffled many of my doctors. I have a better understanding now of what may have been happening. The problem: Intense stomach pain, nausea, difficulty keeping food down for nearly eight months and significant weight loss.
Acupuncture
My acupuncturist said my digestive system had become imbalanced and that we needed to improve my body’s ability to absorb nutrients. Her recommendation was acupuncture to help the body correct digestive imbalances and manage pain. She also recommended adding easily digestible foods to my meals, three times a day, for about six months, and gave me a recipe for “congee.” Congee is an Asian rice porridge, which can include other ingredients to improve flavor and increase nutrients. Because congee is easy on the stomach, eating it daily can help the body learn how to digest food properly again. Better digestion improves nutrient absorption, which improves the body’s healing ability. In just over a month with weekly acupuncture sessions, I had a noticeable decrease in stomach pain.
CranioSacral Therapy (CST) and Massage Therapy
My posting on CST described the cranial rhythm as the flow of spinal fluid through the spine and is separate from the pulse or rhythm of the heartbeat. An abnormality (change in the rhythm) can cause problems in the body. My therapist described the normal human cranial rhythm as being similar to the smooth swimming motion of a dolphin, and cycles about six to twelve times a minute. More
Emotion: Fear
13 Nov 2011 6 Comments
in Photomanipulation Tags: art, haiku, nature, photography, poems, poetry
>>:::<<
Quivering glances
Timid trust pleads for shutters
Mind-blast softens fright
>>:::<<
This is the third photo in my emotion series. In reality, this bumble-bee seemed to be unconcerned about my presence. As long as I didn’t disturb it or approach too closely, it just went about its business. The results of this shot evoked some subtle feelings of hesitation and even trepidation, so I decided to enhance those feelings with some motion blur.
Related postings on “Emotion:” in this blog:
Emotion: DoWnS and uPs
08 Nov 2011 11 Comments
in Photomanipulation Tags: art, haiku, nature, photography, photos, poem, poems, poetry, postaweek2011
>>:::<<
Lows – deep, dark, lonely
Sweet and sour emotions
Highs – rare, swift, feeble
>>:::<<
Here is another photo in my “emotion” series. (see my posting on anger). I saw a flower that had both droopy petals and lively petals, and thought I could use it to represent the experience of being on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Although, it could also apply to other rollercoaster challenges one is experiencing. Obviously, I manipulated the photo and added some unnatural blurring to the flower to evoke the feeling I was looking for – instability even when experiencing the “ups.”
"The part can never be well unless the whole is well." -- Plato
