Buzz Aldrin as an embassador for creativity and hope for our future. Click for my link to brain function testing.
Neuroscientists are saving us from our fears. Fighting their way forward in the battle of life, men often disregarded the women and nurture that make it all possible. Now after millennia of careful observations and conjecture, it is time to understand the human condition in a more complete and more healing way. The Old Guard was only partly right.
“History is written by the victors,” goes the adage. Some readers may point out many ways in which our society and the dominant healthcare paradigm are affected by “Gangs.” [My blog: Gangs, Abundance and Creating Your Safe Family.] I would likely agree but quickly add, “They meant well, and their science was still improving.” Now you have the opportunity to know basic factors that can help you be healthier and heal more deeply. Below are pictures and links that reveal how science is discovering why many therapies succeed even when they had been thought of as “all in the mind” or dealing with off-limits ”spiritual matters.”
The Old Guard was only partly right: At the start, take a moment and gaze on this picture of warm-water-based therapy. This is a method of gently releasing muscle and mental tightness. Until recently it was seen as lacking science to prove that it offers more than other types of rehabilitation. [My introduction to Watsu/Aquatic Therapy.]
The old model was based on fear and fighting: In this case I mean the Autonomic Nervous System descriptions that are still widely taught as the basis of self-regulation and its role in the healing process. Many professors talk about the ANS as a battleground between two divisions that they describe as the Sympathetic Nervous System (think of it as Adrenalin and fighting for survival) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (think of it as Rest, Repair, Relaxation). That battle (“Good versus Evil” or “The Struggle for Homeostasis”) fits in well with the presuppositions of many religions and philosophies. Perhaps not all advocates of the recent Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy movement are stuck in this dichotomy, but I am very concerned that their treatments are less effective because they do not recognize the third level of the ANS — the Social Engagement System.
The neuroscience development that I find very encouraging is The Polyvagal Theory. This describes three levels of the Autonomic Nervous System. I introduce this in my page on Dr. Porges. I also include it in New Brain Science and FlexAware Neurological and Structural Integration. This scientific classification of subsets of neurological circuity allows us to avoid the need to call things “spiritual” or “higher purpose” in order to explain why our brains don’t easily figure out why it is crucial for humans to be kind to others and to experience safety as much as possible.
The graphic below is used by permission of Colorado Energy School, one of the many sites where other enthusiastic people are presenting their take on what Dr. Porges has written and done for people who have autonomic nervous system-related health situations.
This is a graphic that I constructed to show the three levels of the ANS existing in one entity, your inner protector. [Autonomic Science]
Seen this way, the Soldier is always on duty to protect and defend you from threats. Sometimes the ANS can become overly active and cause problems for your body as it fights invaders (such as bacteria, mold, pesticides, heavy metals, chemicals, etc.)
This image illustrates situations in which the body can experience symptoms in a wide array of areas due to intense response by the ANS. Sometimes an ache or pain may be related to an underlying global struggle going on inside the body (such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity — MCS, Fibromyalgia — FMS).
In my earlier blog (Living Inside the Box: Your body as temple) I include a graphic that describes a way to include the ANS into a more inclusive model that I created. This is my way of encouraging a person to see themselves as their own main source for the healing process.
As described in that blog, a person has three Control Systems that can each act on its own without interference by the others. I then tell the person that “the real You — higher, or deeper, or more complex” – is above those systems (the purple ring enclosing them).
These are only models. They are dealing with the most important aspects of life so I’m not expecting perfection. The end result that I want is for people to have more control over their own lives by learning new ways to understand themselves and support their own healing process.
It is my hope that increasing numbers of researchers and clinicians will be documenting the expanded ways of understanding and supporting people’s healing processes.
Conclusion [v. February 18, 2012]
I encourage you to be gentle and wise with yourself. Your symptoms and anxieties are each the result of a part of you that is doing the best that it can. You are not alone in your search for answers.
And, you are not forever sitting atop a controlled explosion, or locked in an eternal struggle. Yes, your ancestors survived because they were alert for threats, and you do need to accept that your innate responses will often be protective ones. However, you now have permission to learn what the larger context of human interactions can mean for you.
My network of practitioners and services support you in your wholeness. It’s beyond words how important is the difference between a narrow or wide view of life.
This link is to my Amen Clinics certified Education Center which is undergoing upgrading as Dr. Amen releases new programs and a new DVD.
Dr. Amen has authorized a discount on purchases (15% with code: ECENTER42). This includes items on sale, DVDs, books, programs, etc.
I encourage you to take the My Brain Type questionnaire, and learn more about your functional health.
We seek to excel, but with that come risks of long-term “souvenirs” of our journey through our personal history. Here are some pointers to turn your next steps along life’s pathway into ones that are especially meaningful.
Often I find myself helping someone sort through their life history that led them to a current challenge of health of mind or body, and I’ll momentarily think of my own journey to become a physician. [Below are pictures of some of my own life mementos.*] Each day is sufficient unto itself, goes the adage. However, being aware of the inventory of past events that our body and mind have confronted sometimes can help us on our next important steps.
The Amen Solution: This month is a major turning point for the public outreach of Daniel Amen, M.D., whose brain health specialty I enthusiastically support. Dr. Amen was first known for his brain imaging using special computerized study. Now he has expanded his services to often avoid the brain scans. You can experience his wisdom; improve your body by improving your brain by visiting My Amen-Affiliated Education Center. There I introduce his work — some of the best information available about function of the physical brain and its effect on emotions and social skills. Dr. Amen has a lot of information on his site about patients whose emotional and social health improved after starting on one of his programs. (Note: The programs do not need to include the SPECT brain scan.) I invite you to take Dr. Amen’s “My Brain Type” questionnaire.
Sports trauma: Dr. Amen is nationally known for his work with NFL football players. Throughout their high school, college and professional careers they have, without planning on it, increased their risk of slow onset of brain function problems after receiving many blows to the head. Other sports and activities can lead to trauma to the head (or to the body with whiplash stress on the skull and brain).
Other traumas: Chemical toxins can also cause a kind of trauma. Genetic testing can give clues as to who may have enzyme structure effects from gene polymorphisms (e.g., DetoxiGenomics test).
Bullying is a trauma. I want you to know that football players and contact sport athletes are not the only ones whose brains can have altered function after traumas. Severe fear and other strong emotions can shift the function of groups of brain cells. There is a lot of information in the five-minute video clip that is introduced by Bill Cosby. It ends with a story of a husband and wife whose marriage was saved by what Dr. Amen discovered.
My E-Center page has videos and information about things that you might choose for yourself or a loved one who has experienced any type of blow to the head (or to the body, with whiplash stress on the skull and brain).
Enjoy life: This is the cover of one of the healthy brain books offered on the Amen Affiliate site that is now available. I’m especially glad to see that, because of the importance of being forward-thinking rather than only looking back at past shocks and traumas. Dr. Amen and Tana Amen have become an energetic team who encourage people to explore their own brains and their own bodies and learn how to move toward fuller lives no matter what the challenges have been to their brains in the past.
Warrior Resilience programs benefit us all.Here in Washington DC I’ve felt honored to attend the Warrior Resilience Conference and other supports for service members and veterans. I wrote a blog entry after the Resilience event last year: What Does A Good Soldier Do?: The Trauma Spectrum. My theme in attending is that service members have forever been changed by what they’ve seen and done. The general public does not need to go through what the men and women of the services go through. Their service makes it possible for others to have a life without the same types of stresses.
One endeavor that I undertook last year was to encourage consideration of Watsu (warm water shiatsu) to be made available for service members and veterans. [more] My hope is that there may yet be an opportunity for wide introduction of warm water therapy to the communities that welcome service members after they leave active duty.
*Below are some pictures of mementos marking turning points in my life. From Cub Scouts to military service and beyond, I’ve felt the call of service to others. I’m giving back from the rich knowledge, skills and connections that I have in the health care field.
These are from my father’s WWII service uniform.
Now it’s time to put away the old memories. Time for creating new ones.
Conclusion [v. February 16, 2012]
You’re invited to read more on my internet site and blog. On my Amen E-Center intro page you can take the My Brain Type questionnaire for no charge. The Amen Affiliate Online Store linked from there has many of Dr. Amen’s favorite books, DVDs, packages, and Nutraceuticals (15% discount code: ECENTER42).
I’ve been warned this website may be forced to shut down as part of a crackdown on natural medicine practices. Of course that got my attention, but the greater message behind that warning has served to deepen my enthusiasm for the good things that are now becoming so abundantly available to people in our world today. [You are invited to read my earlier blog about the many helpful treatments available at the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine -- here.]
Especially instructive for me has been my past ten years of living and practicing natural medicine methods here in Washington DC. The experiences I’ve had have made it very real to me that there are many competing agendas in our nation and worldwide. People’s wellbeing and sometimes even their ability to stay alive are affected by the competition.
Further down I include comments and links that present helpful overviews of some of the important items you can use to support and protect your wellbeing and health. This includes brain health specialist Daniel Amen, M.D., with his positive message of how to care for your body and brain. However, I start with this picture that symbolizes the trusting gaze and secure touch shared between child and parent/ caregiver. [See Family Constellations.]
The New Brain Science and the expanded understanding of the Autonomic Nervous system present us with new options for strengthening and nourishing our lives. This includes body, brain, mind and social/spiritual aspects. That is the focus of my blog, Living Inside the Box: Your Body as Temple.
One of the most important findings is that human beings are basically “hardwired” to be alert for danger and for threats to themselves and family. The PolyVagal Theory (I’ve spoken with the author, learning specialist Stephen Porges, Ph.D.) is introduced on my New Brain Science page and in the video below.
Here at the Washington Instute of Natural Medicine, I’m especially pleased to present the autonomic nervous assessment technology called the AcuGraph. Below is the video that introduces AcuGraph digital meridian imaging at the Washington Institute. I use this for information about the energy system of the body and can compare the original graph to ones at future visits. This is not a western medical diagnostic tool. However, it gives an objective look at what to most people are processes of which they are totally unaware. [Note: it is only one of the many "entry points" that I use to help you discover your own inner gifts and healing powers.]
About Gangs: Many of you have sent me emails with messages warning about the dangers of threats that you perceive. I’ve even seen internet sites that present their position that the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association (to name a few) are no longer protecting individual people but instead are considering first the financial profitability of corporations (“corporations are people”). The writers warn that these are acting like gangs that terrorize the community. I myself don’t think that such a view is ultimately helpful. Such fear can be very distracting and can interrupt our healthy relationships with those around us. This is especially so if you have studied the autonomic nervous system and the immune system and the new insights about how to remain healthy and happy.
Protective Approach #1: The healthy brain, healthy life approach of brain care specialist Daniel Amen, M.D., can give you a very solid base on which to stand and face whatever life challenges come your way. (This includes any type of “gang” or threat.) I am a certified practitioner member in his Educational E-Center network. Below is his enthusiastic invitation to learn more. [See my page for details about what he offers.]
Protective Approach #2: Learn more about ways that you can keep yourself as safe as possible. See more on my page, Environmental Toxicity Support.
Below is a video that is a riveting reminder of the potential risks to life when corporations do not rapidly remove what seem to be threats. Sandra Steingraber presents a dramatic parable about the narrow approach to understanding health problems. She also wrote the book Raising Elijah to help raise people’s awareness of the need to protect ourselves from environmental toxins.
The video below that one is more scientific, made by a medical doctor who is skilled in testifying about environmental toxicity matters and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
In my counseling practice and my tele-health coaching I often explore with the person what other types of protection they might learn about that would help their situation. [There are a lot more threats to our wellbeing than environmental pollution.]
Defense matters. As a veteran of military service, I support and respect the members of the services. These men and women provide their service at a high personal price. The leaders of the uniformed services take seriously the need to protect these people so that they can effectively serve. This is the theme of the Warrior Resilience conference series. I attended last year’s conference and another one in support of Wounded Warriors.
On my Autonomic Science page I include the graphic of the Autonomic Nervous System being like a soldier — always on duty to protect and defend the body’s healthy function.
An FYI: This picture is of skin care products designed by veterans to serve the needs of veterans who are often in harsh weather. It is available to the general public from SkinCanDo. I recently purchased their Combat-Ready Balm and I like its natural ingredients and non-greasy feel after use. This is an example of the increased awareness that our nation is having about the contributions of those who serve in the uniformed services as well as being an example of how we all benefit in a variety of ways.
And, I am particularly grateful for the civilian access that has become available to many of the technologies developed originally for military use such as telemetry from the Space Program. When I was in college at the US Air Force Academy my senior science class project was to test the possible use of algae as a way to turn exhaled carbon dioxide into oxygen for astronauts who might live on the moon. [Related items that I offer: HRV | Biofeedback | SCENAR type treatment for pain | AcuGraph | Iris camera technology, and more.]
Creating Your Safe Family.
This next section is the central concern that drove my creation of these ideas for you today. Each of us has a family. For many that means not only parents who managed the birth, but then one or more caregivers (often these are the birthparents) who remain committed to the child’s growth and development, in short, who love them. The family should be a person’s first experience of safety. When there are distortions of the love that should have come from parents (and that also should have flowed down from grandparents and earlier ancestors), there can be tremendous disruption in the child’s life that can then cause problems in their own children when they have them. Family Constellations are an important new way for people to take action and to clean up their distorted perceptions about the love that should have flowed consistently throughout their entire family lineage. [More details on Family Constellations -- the same page as linked above.]
Families around the world are part of the theme of the World Healing page on my original site. One of my earliest introductions to people in other types of societies was when my father took me to the Indian Guides program when I was in gradeschool.
That led me to be very grateful to attend the dedication of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. This image is taken from the library in the Museum. It shows the sense of irony and humor that I’ve always appreciated in First Nations people. [Their activists would use the word Gang to describe the outsiders who so radically altered their lives and their families.]
It is beyond words how deeply moving it is to know about both the beauty and the disaster that has characterized the lives of so many of the peoples on our planet. Later on in my life I’ve had several sacred opportunities to learn from people of different cultures. Here are pictures of China and the mountain Taoists and their temple physician who invited me to spend what became nine days on one of the holy Taoist mountains in China.
Link to Dr. Wright’s Tahoma Clinic–Seattle’s Holistic Medicine and Wellness Center
This is the picture of Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., who founded the Tahoma Clinic near Seattle, Washington. He was the first medical doctor that I saw (in 1980) who knew that there were hidden toxins and alterations in my functions that could be helped with nutrition and other approaches.
After meeting him I then discovered Bastyr University. What you won’t find in my online bio is the story of the death of one of his secretaries who he says died because of FDA invaders of his clinic who forced her against a wall at gunpoint so they could confiscate records and equipment which she knew would endanger the lives of many patients. [I think that he would say that they acted as a Gang.] He now continues his excellent work to study and offer clinical services that are at the forefront of what is called Holistic Medicine. Dr. Wright is one of many doctors who are contributing to the growing evidence that I envision will soon lead to great changes in the way that medicine and health care (of body and mind) will be practiced in this nation and worldwide.
Biochemistry and Physiology of Safety: Functional Medicine shows that if a person perceives danger and threat, their physiology starts to steal the molecules away from their detoxification pathways and converts them into adrenalin-like compounds. [This could be the topic for an extensive blog in the future about Dr. Gant's founding of the Academy of Functional Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology and the continuing discoveries that may help you to protect yourself from stress and to repair health situations.] This gives a scientific basis for including in your health menu a variety of ways to make your body, your brain and your autonomic nervous system feel safe.
Creating Your Safe Family – Returning to this in greater detail I invite you to consider what it would take for you to have an active memory of people who are your allies, who provide support, and who increase your feeling of safety and wellbeing.
My approach to counseling and homeopathy is motivated by the existence of a creative force in each person (which is the generative aspect of the Dynamis that Dr. Samuel Hahnemann described. I write about that as being deep and creative, basically your individual Vis medicatrix naturae). This allows you to create an active inner and social network of people who help improve your sense of safety and belonging. You can create your own Safe Family – which means even people who are not related by birth.
During the year-long professional certificate program in Spirituality, Health & Medicine at Bastyr University (1999-2000) I deepened my knowledge and appreciation of many of the world’s religions. There, I could see different ways of understanding ”family” — including birth family, one’s local place of worship, the larger body of one’s religion worldwide, and then the fact that there are several worldwide groups or “families” known as separate religions. Some presenters even described thinking of the entire human race as being one family. That’s not what I’m talking about here, at least not entirely.
I do feel that Family is beyond one’s birth and religious situation. As I write this I warmly recall a gracious Muslim doctor who invited me to share a meal with him. That was in July 2001. We sat without shoes on a carpet and I recall him allowing each of us to give thanks in our own way. But, what I will always remember is that he then told stories from some of his tradition. One was about a man who offered a meal to a stranger (whose appearance may not have been neat and tidy as I recall), and eventually the stranger revealed himself to be an angel. The interpretation that I took away from that story is that it is the truth that every human deserves to be respected no matter what they look like.
Conclusion [v. February 8, 5:00 p.m.]
There are many types of power groups, agendas and conflicts in the world in general. This also includes the world of healthcare. My hope is that each of us can practice what could be called “healthcare diplomacy.”
In the healthcare world there are major “stakeholders” and power blocs, and many agendas that do not benefit everyone. The situation even has aspects that mean the loss of wellbeing or early death for some people due to the inability to see things the same way.
It is my hope that you will be able to find information that is of use to you for staying healthy or improving your health if you have concerns for body or mind. If you can locate a variety of helpful individuals who can provide services and supportive presence, I’d call that a kind of Safe Family. That would give you a memory of nurture that you can connect with even though it is not a birth family and even though they don’t all live in the same building or even the same city. In my own case, my Safe Family is spread out and in many places of the planet. We know each other and hold high regard for each other.
If you would like to consider important matters for your own health of body or mind, I invite you to contact me. The office in Washington DC can be reached at: 202-237-7681. I have a map of the location, on my Appointments page.
I know that all of the practitioners at the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine would be glad to become part of your Safe Family.
Every day I see creative and often heroic choices made by people. Their reasons and their situations vary but it is the ability to make something new that is a fundamental quality of human life. Do you know how impressive you are? [See Deeper below.]
We may have communicated already or you are beginning to explore my writing and you are considering how my services and connections may benefit you and your community.
As a physician and counselor I listen and observe what you are concerned about – or what is giving you joy of accomplishment — and we collaborate to find new options for you to move forward. Recently I’ve recalled the many individual life journies that I’ve been privileged to learn about both as a member of the healing arts and as a member of the human community. Today I want to remind you of parts of yourself and the community that you choose to surround you that you might not consciously recognize. This can deeply enrich your life and bring major changes in your life physically, mentally and socially.
Do you know that you have always had a central core that is doing its best to keep you healthy? You might think of this core as a central team that does its best to manage the variables of your life; I describe the Three Control Systems and the Deeper You in Living Inside the Box: Your body as temple. While you are reading this the main Control System that is in action is your Brain-plus-Motor-Nerves that is using the Internet to navigate and learn. However, alongside that member is your (three-level) Autonomic Nervous System that is scanning to be sure that you’ll find things that are useful and supportive for you.
Deeper: In standard Western medicine the current approach to health concerns focuses on finding what has attacked a person. In my career of examining health care approaches I’m now in favor of including approaches that discover the positive strengths of the person and that help them to live in the world in a healthy interactive and creative way. I’ve found benefits in the approaches of Ayurvedic medicine, Tibb medicine, acupuncture-related systems (such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean traditional methods — see AcuGraph and Biomodulator/ SCENAR Technology) and more recent ways of harnessing the energy-based Homeopathic phenomenon. Behind and beneath these is an elemental component of human existence that some have called The Creative Living Power (or the Dynamis that activates the minerals that compose our physical structure).
This is why I am enthusiastic about you: Your deep healing process comes from that deeper You that I wrote about. Your Dynamis acts in creating new options, new things and new situations. All of human history has resulted in the creation of You. And in return you are capable of making new arrangements and new ideas that never existed before. These can benefit others, these can benefit you. This process can help with chronic illness, athletic performance, job performance, helping your child or any concern.
Whether you seek improved health of body or mind for yourself or loved ones, it is this Living Power of yours that is ultimately in charge of how you move forward. I introduce that as your personal Vis medicatrix Naturae– which is a part of you, not Nature invading and controlling you. It is You-plus-Nature. It is deeper and different from your brain, so you need to practice listening or letting it reveal its deeper reassurance that it is there for you.
[To be more complete, an important part of your life is the community that you choose to surround you. It could be called the "matrix" within which you conduct your life. There are more aspects to this surrounding environment in my essays, Family Constellations | The Community that is You | Toolkit for life. ]
At the end of the year we often give gifts. Sometimes the hurry and pressures can distract us from major gifts that we receive daily (such as air, water, light and life itself). As I move through these days of transition to the new year I want to remind myself and visitors that the gift of life is much greater than our mind alone can receive.
As a male and a veteran of military service it’s easy to act as if life is a matter of thinking how to protect and defend against risks, shocks and traumas. I wrote earlier [What Does a Good Soldier Do?] about changes that come when a person adds the service community to their experience of being a member of the greater human community. Immersing one’s self into an assembly with a focused purpose brings opportunities to learn in different ways than our unique personality tends to learn; I mean that we may tend to learn easier by Seeing, or Hearing, or Touching, etc. [More: New Brain Science | Neurodevelopmental Differences | Brain Heroes.]
Now that I am back in civilian life, I’m more aware of the intricacies of human society and my studies have helped me gain skills that I offer to help people manage their own intricate health. I’m dedicated to using both science and heart to engender new options for personal wholeness.
My recent video (recorded while I had a cold) on my new YouTube Channel is below. I show details of an important way to learn about your functional health. At the end of the video I describe my hopes for the future of humanity. Below the video I affirm that we are much more than can be discovered with new intellectual knowledge, laboratory testing and other assessments.
Knowing who you are — The gift of your life:
Each year at this holiday and year-transition time I am thankful for experiences I had in the Spirituality, Health & Medicine certificate program at Bastyr University [more]. One’s philosophy or faith can deeply affect the experience that their body has [see my blog Living Inside the Box: The body as temple].
It took me a long time to realize that we cannot simply “think our way through life.”
Direct experience is what our body remembers. Fears and joys are what our autonomic nervous system recalls. Our brain’s understanding of how we fit into the larger flow of life around us will affect our ability to creatively move forward in full health.
3. FlexAware® fitness/Neuro-Rehab home exercises [FlexAware intro].
In addition: My license as a naturopathic physician allows me to offer functional medicine laboratory testing to give you more details about your physical function [more]. Sometimes brain imaging can be helpful [more].
I can also advise you on benefits from other health care resources [selected referral list]. These can help you learn about effects on your health and personality as a result of: Environmental Toxins [more], family system distortions [Family Constellations] and other obstacles to your full health.
I am particularly glad to have privileges at the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine. They have a community of practitioners who offer a range of therapies that I think can be very helpful in unlocking a person’s innate self-healing capabilities. [Blog introduction]
As I close this year-end contemplation here are a couple of pictures from the video.
This honors a young man who sought knowledge and gained wisdom: Matthew J. Stepanek. He found that health is deeper than physical life.
I describe some of the effects he is having on the world in this essay that includes a link to his site:
[Added January 8, 2012] When you click on the picture below it will jump to the section of the YouTube video where I introduce Mattie Stepanek and his hope for the world.
Now that you have thought about the intricate gift that your life represents:
I invite you to create a Health Menu of options to help you in creatively moving forward in your own transitions and health challenges.
Learn more about tele-health and about in-person office visits at the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine: Appointments: Local or Tele-health
A Health Menu at crucial life stages can add options that enrich our lives and the lives of those around us. Steve Jobs’ modern storybook life is becoming legend already. His integration of technology and human connectedness changed the way people live. As a natural medicine doctor I study him and I marvel at how he can be listed as both a case of cured cancer (he lived more than 5 years after surgery for cancer in 2004), and also as a champion for choice of one’s beliefs and navigating the waters of Life in this challenging modern world with many options to support people during illness and dying with dignity.
All of us have been touched by the phenomenon known as cancer whether personally or in people we know. Cells that have begun rogue activity not consistent with coherent integrated communications with the rest of the body are called “cancerous.” Cancer has been detected in fossilized dinosaurs, so this is not new. When you look at “Cancer” as a process and not an external invader, it is easier to understand how we can gain a lot by looking at the range of human experience with cancer. Perhaps most important are what are called “spontaneous remissions,” which are often described by saying, ”the Cancer decided to go away.” We can learn a lot by studying people who once “had cancer” and then after a while the cancer could not be found.
I’ve had a website page about Cancer Information since I began sharing on the website that I developed during my certificate course in Spirituality, Health & Medicine at Bastyr University. I now include Steve Jobs’ biography — and a link to purchase it in printed or digital form – on that page [here].
Steve’s life and conscious choices of how to live his life within his close family, his friends and the creative community around him, and his relationships with people around the world are instructive and inspiring. And even more instructive is our own response to his life, and to what others are saying about his life.
Life-threatening health conditions:
What we do with our life when we realize that our physical body won’t exist forever is a process that affects the lives of everyone around us. I’ve been deeply impressed with the life of young Mattie J. Stepanek and his mother, Jeni Stepanek [more].
After receiving a significant diagnosis some people choose to dedicate their lives to helping others. Especially dramatic is the range of choices after serving in the uniformed services with its inherent possibility of being “in harm’s way.” One can look at their life as fighting to help others, or as a fight to protect their own precious life, as a blend of those two, or as a Veteran returned to quiet, productive civilian life. In my blog, What Does a Good Soldier Do?, I look at some of these choices [here].
My Cancer Information page includes links to several books, videos and websites of people who are fighting to protect freedom of choice in one’s personal health support program – whether one has a significant diagnosis or simply chooses to do all that they can do to support their health and wellbeing [again here].
My Philosophy of Health & Medicine page describes how we can see life as more than a digital process (“Left Brain”). We can also include the aspects of creativity and the connections/”intersections” of all people and all of the Creation around us. [Here]
The New Brain Science page includes links about neuroscience and ways that we can support our immune systems by understanding our brain and Autonomic Nervous System and their relationship to our physical body. [Here]
In my Counseling services I include options and possible referrals that help people take control of their own choices. [Here]
I’m continuously impressed with the Mind/Body benefits of making changes in our memories about stresses, shocks and traumas of life. In this I include the New Brain Science mentioned above, as well as FlexAware® neuro-physical rehab and fitness exercise [more], AcuGraph digital meridian imaging [more], Homeopathic personality archetype consultation [more], and Family Constellations [more], to name only a few.
What to do now?
I’m trusting you to explore your own humanity and to use your intelligence to find what works for you. Hopefully the world will have more honest scientific study of the complex nature of the human experience. The resources linked above can help you deal with serious issues, especially the Cancer Information page [again here].
As I write this I’m still reading the Steve Jobs biography.
“I’m going to work on new products and marketing and the things that I like,” he said. But when I asked how it really felt to be relinquishing control of the company he had built, his tone turned wistful, and he shifted into the past tense. “I’ve had a very lucky career, a very lucky life,” he replied. “I’ve done all that I can do.”
Celebrate your own life. There are many options, and my wish for you is that you too can say “I’ve done all that I can do.”
Atheists, Agnostics and Fundamentalists are all looking at the same thing: The Human Condition. As a scientist and a physician I want people to have access to the basics of a healthy life. My clinical website [>] gives clues to the many aspects of the world that I’ve explored to gather powerful knowledge and techniques that can change lives.
If you are simply seeking to sort things out in your life or for your child’s life, my perspective may give new information to bring change for you. A basic consultation to discuss the options may help [more].
The resources and referral network [>] that I’ve built can bring you into contact with knowledge and treatments that may open up new opportunities you hadn’t imagined. My health library portal [>] contains hours of videos, self-quizzes, private journaling and much more. My teaching site [>] was started to give links to life-changing things I’d been learning while journeying to find things that can guide others on their path of healing.
Perhaps the most poignant fact that I’ve learned is that people strongly hold opinions about how life works, and sometimes that stance leaves them unable to smoothly move in (slightly or sometimes greatly) different directions as they seek healing. Particularly saddening is the viewpoint that “the universe is winding down and everything is flying farther apart”; which leaves the person holding onto a desire to forsake others and act only in ways that acquire things for themselves. That is what Entropy is usually thought to mean.
However, there has been a reconsideration of what the theorists were looking at when they came up with the term, “Entropy”. A broader perspective on the meaning of Entropy can lead to a very positive realization: To balance out the expansion that the universe is undergoing, there is a simultaneous increase in the complexity of the human experience. This means that we are more capable of detecting the many intersecting aspects of the world and of benefiting from the relationships of all things. This includes both the physical and the energy aspects of life.
A recent presentation by Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., describes this as Spontaneous Evolution.
I’m available to consult with you about what this can mean to your own health concerns and how to get the most out of life. [Appointments]
For those who are curious to learn more about why I am so hopeful, here are some starting points:
8. Family Constellations and human relationships [more]
Moving Forward: One of humanity’s heroes is a young man whose powerful life has touched many. He had faith that we would develop into what we can become by using both our brains and our hearts. The picture is one that I took of Mattie Stepanek’s likeness.
Life is Relationship — The one with yourself is key to your survival and wellbeing.
My thought for you today might be applicable to the loving relationship you may have with another person. However, I’m talking about Relationship as it applies to an even closer interplay — you in relationship to yourself.
Recent advances in Neuroscience have validated observations that were historically part of the advice presented in such contexts as counseling and spiritual advising. In my earlier blog on “Living Inside the Box…” with your Three Control Systems[here] I began to describe my model of the human as having multiple aspects, each of which has contributions to perceptions and to the final output of the activities and experiences of one’s life.
The book by neuroscientist David Eagleman, Ph.D., Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, came from insights gained from research into brain function. [My introduction to his book in the context of New Brain Science.] He spoke about what I could describe as an inner Round Table of individual protectors of your sovereign realm. Sometimes a person experiences what has been described as “internal conflict” in which it seems as if there are opposing aspects of one’s self. Eagleman and others in the expanding field of neuroscience and bran imaging [eg, the work of Daniel Amen, M.D.] are showing that perception to be factual and neurologically based.
Today I encourage you to consider giving yourself the benefits that come from an expanded concept of who you are. Perhaps even to use my Three Control Systems model of three partners plus the “real you.” I give you permission to think of yourself as more than only one of the three. You are not only your body, not only your brain-plus-motor-nerves, not only your Autonomic Nervous System. You are something deeper, higher and greater than that.
My services [more] are based on understanding that (sometimes-conflicted) relationship and giving you tools to assess and substantially mend what may seem like irreparably disconnected parts of yourself. Along with mending those interrelationshps of your Three Control Systems, you will be taking steps that are included in the Functional Medicine approach [more] that end up strengthening your immune system. This may become a key step in your progress in managing sometimes-serious and chronic health conditions. [See: Conditions Treated]
I am increasingly confident that approaches such as FlexAware, Craniosacral Therapy, AcuGraph digital meridian imaging, NES bodyfield assessment, Biofeedback, Insight Counseling, Homeopathy personality assessment and more all provide important clues that you can gather as you seek to develop a more dynamic and satisfying experience of this gift of life. In my consultations I present these as part of your Tool Kit that you can use to repair or upgrade various aspects of your life. And (I am speaking now to your Brain, with its conscious motor nerve control) I invite you to give over the ”driver’s seat” for a while to one or both of the other partners in your life. You have a lot to learn from the loving participation of your partners: your Body and your Autonomic Nervous System.
“More of the Good Stuff and Less of the Bad Stuff”:A) Charles Gant, M.D., founder of the Academy of Functional Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology, is currently teaching about the importance of “detoxification.” [See my page, Detoxification: The concept.] I plan to write in the future about how you can increase your Health Menu listings of things that can remove burdens on your immune system. B)Good Stuff includes adding nutrients and factors that help your body perform its self-healing process more effectively. [See my new page on the Biotensegrity matrix of one's body and the benefits of supplements such as hyaluronic acid and ASEA.]
Play as Medicine: I am forever indebted to Stuart Brown, M.D., of the National Institute for Play [my introduction]. His words and slides in that TED video are brilliant reminders of just how important it is to explore and learn. That exploring and discovering what works and what does not work is integral to the FlexAware method. [Addition: My workshop experience with Patch Adams of the Gesundheit Institute.]
Love Relationships with others: In closing, I invite you to think about your other relationships, which sometimes might seem like extensions of yourself — those that you have with close loved ones. Becoming aware of one’s own sovereign boundaries can help to give you strength to be able to decide when and how to “open the gates” to sharing and giving psychic and physical energy into the activities of caring for others. I am increasingly impressed with the results of the Family Constellations approach to self-insight as part of the greater lineage of love in the human family [more].
Words are not enough to fully capture the wholeness that I have come to see in life. I wish you all an enjoyable end-of-year time as we transition into another year, and all the best for your meaningful and enjoyable future.
I am so very glad that we are all here now. – Ralph W. Wilson, N.D.
Wisdom for the Journey: “Always remember to play after every storm.” [Mattie Stepanek: MattieOnline.com]
Simply: Consult me if Life’s challenges are getting to you. I’ve spent over 30 years gathering experience and observing the progress of doctors, psychologists and a range of specialists from different health care traditions. Recent events have brought these thoughts to mind:
The underlying philosophy or spiritual/religious context that supports one’s life is perhaps the main factor in what could be called their equation of health. Security: it is at the core of our existence. Especially in today’s world situation post-9/11 we are having to face the importance of what had come to be controversial topics to avoid in “polite society” – Religion, Politics and various versions of Who Is the World’s Best Doctor?
Neuroscientists and evolutionary biologists have now added new data that underscores the need for humans (and all creatures) to perceive that they are safe and protected in order for them to develop the most effective immune system and to enjoy all that life holds possible for them. They have added a third level to the Autonomic Nervous system [more]. Now the “old guard” in healthcare and mental health are gradually seeing the value of an expanded way of understanding human complexity. Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory of the ANS is beginning to be taught in some medical schools [more].
Over a decade ago I started an essay, My Philosophy of Health & Medicine, and now there are increasing numbers of doctors and health advocates who are seeing a larger perspective. Part of this greater depth of knowledge of human function is Porges’ “Social Engagement System” aspect of the Autonomic Nervous System – with its emphasis on appropriate human relationships for immune support and neurological function. I also include what I call “health energies”, described more on my pages: AcuGraph digital meridian imaging | Heart Rate Variability testing | Biofeedback technologies | Acumeridian “Tapping” techniques | and the envelope-pushing NES Body-Field assessment. I am proud to be a clinician resource in support of Dr. Daniel Amen’s Healthy Brain, Healthy Body services that have gained national prominence.
Functional Medicine and laboratory testing [more] are giving us clues as to how the organs and systems are performing within the context of an individual’s life. This may be your choice for the entry point of working with me. I give each person copies of their lab tests and other assessments (doctors didn’t do this in the past when I began medical school).
Perhaps one of the most important “tests” a person can do is to tune in to their own body and autonomic nervous system through focused attention. I prefer to recommend the FlexAware® method of neuro-structural exercise and rehabilitation — it is a science-based mind-body approach that helps people outgrow pain and supports the healing process. I am personally glad that FlexAware avoids the Buddhist philosophy that I see behind the recently promoted “Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy” approaches. I think that FlexAware will have a much wider appeal to people of a variety of faiths or philosophies.
The Best Doctor: Some thoughts that you can “play” with are: You are your own best doctor. Or, Nature is the best doctor. Or, God is the best doctor. In the right context each of those could feel reassuring and inspire hope and confidence.
All of the above would be supportive for you if you are secure in your understanding of how the world works. I am respectful of people’s choices of philosophy, faith or no faith. I have more details on the Science and Spirituality page that I developed from my experience in Bastyr University’s certificate program in Spirituality, Health & Medicine. That experience is reflected in my blog essay, Living Inside the Box: Your Body as Temple.
I do offer secure, encrypted email if we conduct online coaching: drwilson@hushmail.com. My receipt of your email will be on a password-protected server. If you wish to SEND your messages securely in encrypted format you can sign up for a free HushMail account: www.HushMail.com.
Secure self-study resource: Read more about this. For your self-study there are questionnaires and a library of videos and presentations on self-awareness and mental health, on my information portal. This is HIPAA-compliant and provides you with a self-directed resource for personal growth. Password access to this comes when you consult with me either in person or via distance consultation and coaching.
Learn more: I have given several starting places to read more about what may be useful for you. To receive notice of additions to this health resources blog, sign up to follow my [infrequent] Twitter postings [here] that announce blog updates. You might choose to download and read the document, Creating Your Own Health Menu [PDF]. That is a lot of reading and video-watching. However, you may choose to simplify things and consult with me.
Beginning: To take action you are invited to set up a consultation with me in-person or online [here] and experience for yourself how it might be if you treated yourself from a broader perspective. You could choose an initial consultation including various assessments, or take a more cautious first step and come for a Craniosacral Therapy session directed at supporting what Dr. Upledger called “Your Inner Physician.”
The Journey Continues: I’ve been deeply moved by the many encounters recently with people and internet sites dedicated to world peace and human fulfillment. I like Burt Hellinger’s concept [more] that we are all part of the lineage of Love. Below is a link to a site that honors a scientist of the heart – a young man whose short but dynamic life on Earth is touching many:
You’re visiting my site for clues about the Healing Process and for ideas about what you can do with new knowledge about health care.
[Updated Sept 27, 2011.] Whether you are dealing with cancer, your child’s autism diagnosis or any health concern of body or mind, you want things to change. People often consult natural medicine practitioners because what they have experienced so far in their search for improved health has not brought the results for which they so fervently hoped.
People have for millennia sought to make major changes in the “landscape of health” as well as in the physical landscape around them. I recently discovered a fascinating engineering site that discloses the science of engineering the buildings and the cities in which people live. It includes mention of a huge project that was proposed but never completed: changing the flow of the river Thames in England [link].
Bold proposals and undertakings have been a necessary part of the story of human society throughout history. I recall watching television when the first step was taken onto the Moon [photo of an astronaut whose hand I shook]. I recall the expectations within the scientific community as the Human Genome Project was underway and then the sudden awakening that we in the health care field had when it was revealed that the environment surrounding the genes was the key to understanding and changing how genes are expressed. That new understanding is still in process of having its effects on choices, both politcal and personal, about how to best support a person’s efforts to stay healthy and to heal when that is needed. [Blog essays on "Epigenetics" -- A) Parasites and your internal environment; B) Functional Medicine and lab testing for clues to your internal environment.]
I created my internet sites to help people connect with information and treatments that can change the course of their lives. You may find useful information starting with the Sites Map. A first stop may be the Healthcare On A Budget page, which has several links that you can choose.
People often seek help because of a feeling of urgency about their situation. Part of that feeling is generated by their unseen internal protective aspect that is called the Autonomic Nervous System [blog essay on this -- Living Inside the Box...]. Autonomic self-regulation is the key to effectively moving forward in the healing process.
Autonomic function is crucial to health. One of the organizations that I highly endorse is the HANDLE Institute. Gentle Enhancement® is an important new term from the HANDLE Institute that focuses on respectfully supporting the A.N.S. The Gentle Enhancement approach reminds us that we can’t push ourselves or our children beyond the individual’s ability to dynamically adapt and learn new things:
…Gentle Enhancement® is an approach based on the concept that weak, disorganized, immature, or damaged neurological systems should be gently strengthened.
Stressed systems do not get stronger, they become more disordered or shut down. The flight or fight response of the sympathetic nervous system does an outstanding job of preparing one to deal with a perceived threat to safety. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, the body’s natural resources become dedicated to survival, leaving few, if any, resources left for other processes, such as learning, maintenance, and repair.
When weak neurological systems cause a sustained stress response, problems with health and/or learning can arise. Most people are aware of stress-related risks to physical health, which include digestion/absorption problems, immune system problems, sleep disorders often accompany a diagnosis of Autism, ADD and other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as cardiac conditions. From the HANDLE perspective, these outcomes are not surprising… [from their essay on Gentle Enhancement.]
A unique and effective approach to neurological, physical and mental rehabilitation is the FlexAware®method. I am certified in the FlexAware approach because it is compatible with recent neuroscience discoveries, including the autonomic regulation that I have mentioned many places on my sites. I invite you to also view the video on my blog entry introducing the concept of Play as Medicine.
In closing I invite you to explore your own landscape: this includes the Three Control Systems model and your own perceptions of what your life means to you. Change may seem a long time in coming, but with the right perspective (and some assistance), change is possible no matter how difficult the situation may have seemed.
From Mattie Stepanek: “Always remember to play after every storm.” [MattieOnline.com]
Laboratory testing can assess the functional health of organs and systems that allow people to move forward in dealing with the joys, shocks and traumas of life.
More about my use of lab testing is on the Functional Medicine page of my main clinical site. There I give much praise to the Academy of Functional Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology because of its ongoing training of health care practitioners who want to add the broader viewpoint of functional testing to their work with clients who come to them with puzzling conditions of body and mind.
Recently I have listened with amazement at the stories of lives changed in children and their families who have received the care of Michael Gruttadauria, D.C. His site: Beat Autism Now! I include his site among notes on my original site about Autism and Neurodevelopmental Differences.
Recently I’ve been impressed by another resource for training in functional medicine: “GearUp –Caring for your practice as you care for your patients.” If you are reading the textbook above or other study aids, the GearUp services can help you to efficiently integrate that knowledge into your education of your patients and visitors to your internet site: www.GearUpDoctor.com.
Recently I read a forum posting from Garry Gordon, M.D. (his professional “FACT” group is accepting application for inclusion in the emailing of questions and answers). It dealt with Gardasil deaths and a representative case where a young girl’s life was saved through the work of a medical doctor who included several cutting-edge methods. That was an exact parallel of a young man whose life I saw rescued through the efforts of the team at National Integrated Health Associates [NIHA info]. If you are a healthcare practitioner you can learn more on www.GordonResearch.com. Dr. Gordon is one of a large and growing number of medical practitioners who realize that in many individual cases a person is not capable of withstanding the usually small stress of preservatives and additives contained in vaccinations. Functional medicine lab testing may be helpful in deciding if a person is strong enough to handle the foreign substances being introduced into their body.
If you are a member of the general public seeking information to include on your Health Menu of what may be helpful for you and your family, here are just two of the connections that I may recommend regarding functional stresses from vaccinations: National Vaccine Information Center and Vaccines.Mercola.com.
Each of us is doing the very best that we can in using our brains to find things that keep us as safe as possible [more on the blog, Your Body as Temple]. However, when you consult with a functional medicine practitioner you can gain additional clues about factors such as toxicities, nutrient deficiencies and genetic physiological hindrances that require nutrient management so as to avoid expression of what could be called disease.
There are many parts to living a full and rich life. Functional Medicine can be a major help to achieving that.
September 11: As I write this our nation is remembering the deep wounds of 09/11/2001. I’d intended to write about other deep woundings that come crashing into the lives of people such as the diagnosis of cancer or autism, or the devastation of losing one’s job or one’s home. The loss of loved ones is yet another loss — this could include death or divorce. The person is left with the realization that what might have been is no longer the reality to which they wake each day.
There is an agony as we respond to the news that life is no longer what we’d assumed it would be when we woke up that morning.
The next steps — the ones that we choose to take (or to forego) after the Defining Incident — constitute the path on which I meet the majority of the people who consult me.
This written message is short because I am committed to giving each person the focus that is most suited for them. Words on a website could never be enough to describe the unique boundaries of hopes and fears and possibilities for each individual.
The key thought today is — “No room for rocks.” A science experiment that you may have read about can be expanded to add value to our understanding of the healing process:
When a cup is filled with stones, there is still room for small pebbles to fit in between the stones. In addition, sand can then be added to make an even more compact arrangement. Finally, water could be poured to fill it even further. You’ve likely already heard that experiment described.
I invite you to consider what psychologist Kathleen Brehony pointed out in an interview: If your cup is filled, there is little room left for rocks to squeeze in.
The message that I got from hearing that new description of an old concept is that our body/mind/emotions are like a cup that each day we choose to fill with a variety of items. If we emphasize things that are not stressful, if we increase the time that we spend on nourishing and positive activities, then we will be more likely to have an outcome that we find positive.
There have been recent findings noted on my website about neuroscience and functional medicine testing that give me hope that finally we are living in a time when there are actual steps that can be taken to deal with what used to seem like mysteries. There is more on my internet sites about aspects of these that may be important for you. My websites, my services as a doctor and those of my colleagues around the country can help you choose which may be the most important Health Menu items for your unique situation.
In closing, I give recognition to the basic healing quality of human family and relationships. Powerful healing has been reported from loving human support given to people who had received serious medical diagnoses. The social environment is part of the matrix that now needs to be considered when calculating the factors that are called “epigenetics.”
In a future entry I would like to more fully introduce some of the insights of Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., concerning epigenetics and some of the new possibilities for applying Complexity Theory to the task of helping people heal and improve their health. However, here is the link to a YouTube presentation that he made which was spliced into a program for a certain technique that could be called “filling up your cup” so that the negative things have less room to affect you: [click here]. You can ask me individually about the few reservations that I have about that technique and about how he is marketing his insights. However, he captures very well the essence of the complexity of human health.
As we close this day, September 11, 2011, and look to the future, here are words from Mattie Stepanek: “…The color of Peace is people together” (put to music by Billy Gilman). [More about Mattie: MattieOnline.com]
“Your eyes are beautiful.” The eyes can be looked at as a road map or blueprint that can guide you as you move forward in exploring this gift of Life. I support the study of the structure of the fibers of the iris as a way to learn more about the dynamic development of the body both while still in the womb and also during the body’s adapting to the stresses of life during the person’s lifetime.
My study of acumeridian circuits, meeting Björn Nordenström, and my clinical experience all give me hope for the future of health care now that doctors and the general public are beginning to consider how to include “body energies” as part of their efforts to solve their “health puzzles.” Recent neuroscience discoveries re the “Social Engagement System” (ref Mirror Neurons) point to the value of simply looking into the eyes as a way to engender changes in the client.
1) Check out the New Brain Science teleseminars and other information: [link].
2) The PolyVagal Theory of the Autonomic Nervous System and the Social Engagement System provide science to back up the observations that when a doctor, counselor, therapist, etc., looks into someone’s eyes, the other person experiences a change in their emotions or their awareness. For more about this visit this page about Dr. Porges, neuroscientist and researcher into Autism and social communication circuitry in the brain.
This is giving us clues as to why iridologists throughout healthcare history have been so dedicated to using it as a way to help heal the whole person: they sensed that there was something important linking the eyes to the rest of the body. We now have increasing amounts of science to back up that intricate relationship of all parts of the body. I have been the Principal Investigator of an IRB project to research the topic, “Ocular Signs of Cardiac Pathology.”
Physical Iridology
Study of the iris of the eye has been reported in ancient Chinese literature, and at the present time there is a high level of interest in the eye and information that can be learned from observing it. Retina identification has received a lot of attention for use in assuring identification for access to sensitive information areas of government and corporate sites in many places around the world. The iris structure has been studied as a source of information about a person’s physical and also mental health. Below is information from Dr. Bill Caradonna’s Introduction to Iridology (on the site of the International Iridology Practitioners Association):
Eyes have long been referred to as the “Windows of the Soul”. But few people are aware of just how true this observation is. Accurate analysis of iris structure and pigmentation provides information about you or your clients that is hard to find through other methods. This information is so valuable that Iridology deserves to become a widely practiced assessment tool in both the physical and psychological health fields.
There are a multitude of factors that influence our health and personality, and many of these factors are reflected in the iris. Look closely at your eyes in a mirror, and then at the irises of those around you. You will see many different patterns of iris fibers and colors. Like fingerprints or faces, no two are exactly alike, and neither are we! The iris structure is so unique it is now being used for security identification at ATM machines and airports. Microsoft’s “house of the future” will use an eye scanner to identify residents and unlock the door.
The Health Status Equation
In order to fully appreciate what the iris reveals, let’s first consider this equation:
HEALTH STATUS = PHYSICAL INHERITANCE + ENVIRONMENT (Diet, lifestyle, etc.) + EMOTIONAL/SPIRITUAL FACTORS + AGE
We all inherit certain combinations of physical traits. We can observe some of these origins from our family tree, but how much this specifically affects you? Diet and lifestyle have a great impact on some people, but why are others able to get away with abusing their bodies? Which mental and emotional aspects significantly affect our physical health? And as we get older, we lose our resiliency at different rates. What is our individual rate?
Iridology takes a lot of the guesswork out of these questions. Going through life without this information is like taking a trip without a map. What are your chances of arriving at your desired destination? Will you get there efficiently, or end up taking many detours along the way? And how will you know where you are heading next?
Using the road map or blueprint contained in the iris, you can find out how well you are put together (and how much abuse your body can handle), where your body will tend to get sick, (including which organ systems are at greater risk), what specific underlying reasons contribute to your symptoms (which may vary from person to person with the same symptoms), and what emotional or behavioral factors are influencing these patterns. In short, it can show you where you came from, where you are headed, what kind of body you have for a vehicle, and what type of driver you are. With this knowledge, you can more effectively approach health challenges and also identify which preventive medicine practices would be most important for you to pursue… — Bill Caradonna, N.D., RPh. (Iridology Educational Services; www.IridologYes.com)
Neuro-Emotional Iridology
The Rayid information below is the most easily accessed store of information about the emotions and the structure of the iris. However, at the start of introducing the Rayid insights, I want to state clearly that I am convinced that the recent neuroscience breakthroughs about the Autonomic Nervous System help to make scientific sense of what Denny Johnson has described:
RAYID: Neuro-Emotional Iridology — I have taken trainings from iridologist Denny Johnson, who developed the Rayid system of iris analysis and evolved into directing a network of practitioners dedicated to the mental/emotional/spiritual aspects of the human being. His work on family birth order dynamics is unique. I have been fascinated by the possible research that could be done by looking at correlations between iris fiber structure and predisposition for dominance of specific neurohormones in light of Acumeridian theory links of organs with emotions.
“The future will prove Rayid a leader in counseling techniques. Using it along with what we know about human behavior, we can more wholly problem-solve and integrate questions on educational, career and marital choices and how to change personal, familial or parental attitudes and behavior.” — Dr. Hester Lewis, Harvard Medical School , School of Psychiatry
Future Scientific Research
I am in support of careful investigation of the relationship of the iris structure and the function of the body and the emotions. Here are links to a book that I helped to republish, about the relationship of acupuncture meridian energy flow and the area around the eyes: Window of Health: Ocular Diagnosis and Periocular Acupuncture. 1. Purchase online | 2. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microcircuits (Dr. Hoy Ping Yee Chan and myself, about her book and her work).
There is much more that you can learn about yourself and your eyes. You are welcome to visit my Iridology Science page for more background. Then call the office and come for iris photographs. See yourself in a new light.
One of the most seasoned of leaders in healthcare growth whom I’ve met is Dr. Victoria Goldsten — founder of the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine (WINMdc.com).
The Institute has been a consistent resource for both natural medicine services and training in what they call Traditional Naturopathy or Classical Naturopathy. For several years I have been a supporter of this facility in their former location in the Cleveland Park/National Zoo area of the District of Columbia.
During the past few years when the District of Columbia was considering how to regulate the practices of the relatively new profession of Naturopathic Physician, I have been a consistent advocate for allowing a regulatory structure that honors the public benefits of both of these natural medicine professions. I have observed Dr. Goldsten and naturopaths from DC and surrounding states as they diligently gave inputs to the process and responded to various developments regarding practice of natural health methods in The District.
I am particularly impressed with the Washington Institute’s contribution to education in natural medicine and natural health approaches. My repeated statement to them is that their structure for teaching is in alignment with the old-fashioned method of training apprentices using on-site and hands-on learning as a key addition to their online educational opportunities.
Dr. Goldsten’s unique “Natural Health Exam” is an example of the eclectic blend of techniques of assessment and treatment that is reminiscent of when I was a student of Dr. John Bastyr, Dr. Gary Berg and others who understood the interface between the “old school” naturopathic doctors and the newly developing profession of “naturopathic physician.”
Now that the Washington Institute has relocated to the Tenleytown area of northwest DC, I have begun seeing patients there. I offer laboratory testing and other scientific approaches of assessment and treatment as I draw upon my extensive background in western medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, Ayurveda, Craniosacral therapy, biofeedback, counseling, hypnotherapy, physical medicine and more.
Recently all of my eloquent descriptions of Health and Life were put to the test when I joined a huge conference focusing on the whole-person health and wellbeing of members of the uniformed services. The Warrior Resilience Conference was held near the Pentagon and the presenters were focused on the health of those who serve in the military, as well as after they return to civilian life. The photo is of three who have been changed by military service. The two soldiers next to me were in the platoon that was followed by a documentary team from National Geographic for 15 months in Afghanistan. That documentary is now on DVD and is named after the medic who was killed during the time: Restrepo.
Entering the military forever changes a person (and their birth family and partner and children at home). They learn things, see things and do things that people in the civilian society never can experience. Sometimes the changes include major stress to the body and the brain. As a result of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, communities and families are now receiving large numbers of veterans of recent military service; some are having major challenges with re-entering civilian life. We have a long way to go before we understand each other.
Military and civilian life experiences are widely different. That difference can push us to look at what it means to be human and what Total Fitness can mean for either of those two life paths. This includes what are called physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects — which were major parts of the Resilience conference. The speakers at the Conference presented a major new innovation, which was the realization that there is a Trauma Spectrum. The Trauma Spectrum as I understand it includes the full range of effects of military service on the individual. They were insistent upon including Veterans and their families and communities in their far-ranging planning.
New descriptions help us see old problems in a new way. First is the new term, Warrior Resilience, and then the new concept, Trauma Spectrum. Our society now has the opportunity to look back at the Veterans and families from past wars and understand more clearly the sometimes subtle changes that the service member may experience. In fact we can look back and see how the entire society was traumatized by war and people’s lives changed forever. I’ve known many people both in the military and out, and I am impressed with the price it cost each of them. Each member of uniformed services, their families and the Veterans after their service is over has forever been changed.
I invite you to read my writing about Family Constellations (a life reframing approach that was developed by a man who had been conscripted into the German Army in WWII and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge). You will understand why I am convinced that above the boundaries of military life and of civilian life, and above political boundaries worldwide, we are all part of a field of connected life that is the Human Family. What to do with that image depends on you. Such a transcendental image may be appealing. Living above boundaries can indeed be a person’s conscious choice.
However, some of us need to inhabit the edges between different belief systems. That is where things can become “kill or be killed.” That is where military and veterans have trained to excel and to keep the peace as much as possible. It is beyond words how deeply it can change a person.
Looking at all those thoughts that I have just presented in what I wrote and what they may mean for you, I know that I can’t give you the solution for your own situation as part of the human race. I must trust your inner creative and healing power (in naturopathic medicine we call this your Vis medicatrix naturae) to generate your own answers.
On the larger scale now more than ever we need a robust society that meets every individual where they are. Pray for Humanity, pray for the planet. Welcome to the Human Family.
Biological Dentistry saved my life; it’s that simple. Detoxifying from Mercury, removing osteonecrotic bone breakdown at extraction sockets, and extracting a root canal filled tooth all brought significant improvements in my life. I am proud to have practiced for the past nine years at National Integrated Health Associates in Washington DC (co-founded by Mark McClure, DDS, Doctor of Integrative Medicine diploma holder) where people can receive what I consider to be the medicine of the future — Now.
Dentists and Medical practitioners working together to clean out the debris and remove blockages to healthy function and then “put in the Good Stuff,” that is the core of the Integrative Medicine offerings at NIHA.
You are invited to learn more about Biological Dentistry [click here].
My first encounter with a Biological Dentist was the presentation by Paul Rubin, DDS, past president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology [their site]. He spoke at a meeting of the Well Mind Association of Seattle, about improvement in mental health after people had their dental Mecury replaced with non-metal materials. The WMA promoted the work of Abram Hoffer, M.D., who helped to develop the field of Orthomolecular Psychiatry.
Later I met Jerry Bouquot, DDS, and learned about his extensive experience with removing the bone breakdown areas which are usually painless but can develop into excruciatingly painful areas of bone destruction. These are known as Neuralgia-Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis, or NICO lesions. Many people who have had their NICO “cavitations” removed have regained health and no longer experienced pains in the head, neck and arms.
I was privileged to attend a presentation by researcher Murray Vimy, DMD, who studied the effects of mercury on animals as well as humans. There is a video online that shows the destruction of nerve cells by mercury when it is placed near to a healthy growing nerve.
Several years ago I obtained a copy of a hypothesis paper by Hal Huggins, DDS, MS, in which he proposed a mechanism for the initiation of the blood cancer, Leukemia. He wrote that the toxic burden from Mercury in the mouth may lead the body to attempt to heal itself by increasing the number of white blood cells. Leukemia is a condition of high white cell count.
More recently in my searching online for information about cancer and how to support the health of people who have it, I discovered this image on a website that discussed the gum tissue problems of people who had leukemia. The article did not mention the Mercury fillings that are so obvious in this disturbing picture.
Dr. Huggins has an extensive network of dentists who have attended his training and his website, “Huggins Applied Healing” [click on the picture], can help you contact a dentist who follows his guidelines for safe amalgam removal as well as post-removal support.
I could go on and create for you hours of reading about the stories of suffering and then recovery from devastating conditions. However, you will be able to do that on your own by following the links in this essay and the links that those pages present.
I invite you to deeply study the possibilities of Biological Dentistry and Integrative Medicine detoxification and health support that are now available around the country. Clean up your mouth and you can clean up your life. It’s that simple.
A final note: Who is it that cleans up your life? Who is the You who controls your life? This is the subject of my essay on the Healing Power of Nature and your Three Control Systems to Run Your Life.
Your Three Control Systems to run your life: The more I observe the intricacies of human life the more awed I am at the gift of life.
[Updated December 25, 2011*] As a doctor I enjoy teaching about how to move forward from where you are to an improved state of health. The more you understand the physical body and its importance to your overall existence the easier it is to make choices that support the life you were meant to have. One way that I describe human health is to recognize the Three Control Systems that each person has by which they manage their life. [Note: I generally think of myself as being "one thing"/"one whole"; however, it can help to identify three fairly separate aspects of how the human being functions. This is especially so with the neuroscience contributions of Porges and Eagleman below. But, you don't have to accept my Three Control Systems model in order to benefit from my recommendations.]
Your Three Control Systems: These are: 1) your brain and motor nerves; 2) your physical body with its neurotransmitter receptors located in the gastrointestinal tract so that it can make decisions without your conscious brain; and, 3) your autonomic nervous system which acts separately, “in the background” without conscious control, to maintain for the brain and body a safer, more stable base of operations. I will write more, but first is this disclaimer:
Describing the complete “diagram” of a human being has been a task that many have sought to do. I consider it impossible for us to ever fully create a “map” of every aspect of a human being. The graphic to the right is courtesy of the Institute of HeartMath Research Center and used with permission as part of my project on what I call Human Energy Anatomy.
About your Three Control Systems: When you work with me your integrative medicine program includes more than one step, more than one way of improving your health. I include the Three Control Systems in constructing individual integrative medicine programs.
1. Your brain and motor nerves: Your brain needs to know what is going on, that you are doing things that will help. This is part of what I call Therapeutic Education and I may assign reading and homework such as temperature graphing and Diet Diary. More information and links on brain health.
2. Your physical body: Your body with the gastrointestinal system that contains neurotransmitter receptors can make decisions without your brain having a role in them. The body must have good food, rest and appropriate movement. We may begin with laboratory testing to check for things that are holding back your ability to physically heal (such as gastrointestinal microbial imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, heavy metal toxicity, enzyme production polymorphisms, and more).
3. Your Autonomic Nervous System needs to sense that it is being acknowledged and supported. On my teaching site you can read more about the ANS as your Internal Protector, featuring Dr. Stephen Porges’s writings about the ANS, autonomic dysregulation and ways to treat “dysautonomia.” [click here]
A lot more could be said about this way of looking at this life that we have. [Addition: My description of your inner Healing Power of Nature:Your Vis medicatrix naturae.]
In closing here is a note about the “Stage” on which we live our lives:
“Outside the Box”: I am convinced that there is a consciousness that is outside of these Three Control Systems, which is the You that can influence those three. This “real you” has been the subject of conjecture by philosophers and religious scholars. I classify it as being a more elemental observer and subtle influencer of the three control systems. It does not experience fear and anxiety and is always available to help the three discover successful courses of action. I consider each of those three to be perfect in its conducting its activities in accord with what it knows. I do not blame them for not being given the information or the raw materials for healthy living; that is the purpose for my teachings and my resource networking and for the work of all others in society who are dedicated to helping people experience life more fully.
Addendum: April 2011. Below is a graphic that I compiled that illustrates your Three Control Systems. This shows that the three (brain; body; autonomic nervous system) are held within the greater context of “the real You” — represented by the circular purple container. This greater context is my representation of what has been called the creative aspect of each human. This might be the same as the Vis medicatrix naturae. This might also be what some homeopathic scholars say was described by Hahnemann as the Dynamis, in particular the creative Generative aspect of that Dynamis that animates the minerals and chemicals of our body into a living being. Some religions have described “the breath of God”, or “the spark of life” that makes a human come to life. Bruce Lipton, The Institute of Noetic Sciences and The Living Matrix Movie all speak of something that animates us that is different than our physical brain and the neurochemical impulses of the nervous system. I respect each person’s religion, philosophy, or stance of no belief. This greater context is what I respectfully propose that you consider as the most important aspect of who you are. This makes it easier for me to design treatment programs because we can consider ways to support each of those three control systems. I plan to write a separate blog entry in the future about designing what I have called Your Health Menu [download Health Menu free report PDF]. Here is the illustration:
*David Eagleman, Ph.D., neuroscientist, has done brilliant work to describe the way that a person may perceive that there are more than one part to themselves. There are two brilliant interviews linked from my main site which show how a person can begin to understand this aspect of human complexity. Of note, I enjoyed his scientific openness when in the NPR interview he stated that he can’t actually rule out the possibility of a Creation event and thus his work is written to be respectful of people of faith.
Each of the Three Control Systems — as well as the consciousness that is You — are all worthy of the Welcome that is a key to being part of the human family (see Family Constellations). You deserve to be here and to live a full, rich life. This is the driving intent behind the services offered at the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine, where I join the others in creating a supportive environment for deep healing.
[play video]
My approach to counseling is to always honor the client’s central position in their own life. Sometimes people may criticize themselves for not living up to what their parents wanted for them. Or they may fear that they are not what their social group expects them to be. Or they may purposely give their attention to others (children, partner, family, job, etc.) and in doing so their physical body gets the message that it does not count as much as others do. The process of “sacrificing” one’s own needs for the sake of others may leave their body and immune system with reduced ability to handle shocks and traumas that occur in life.
Knowing more about how the whole of you (body, brain, and autonomic nervous system) can be more effective at staying healthy and in healthy relationships can make life more meaningful and enjoyable too. [Note: read my newer blog essay on Your Three Control Systems.]
One helpful step you can take is to attend a Family Constellation workshop. This is a type of movement and observation therapeutic experience that is unique; words do not fully explain what the experience does for people who attend.
The video that is at the top of this page describes some of the forces behind the flow of personal dynamics in a person’s relationships to the Human Family that are grounded in what their own birth parents and their ancestors have experienced.
For some people: A limited time in childhood (according to psychiatrist Clancy McKenzie, M.D.) can act as a “window of risk” in which if a child thinks or feels that it has been abandoned by the mother, there can be established a strong memory of being separated from the source of life. This can become a PTSD (“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”) event, that Dr. McKenzie has detected in the past history of his patients who have later on in their life come to him for psychiatric care for such conditions as Schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. There is much more information in his book, “Babies Need Mothers: How Mothers Can Prevent Mental Illness in Their Children.” Introducing Dr. McKenzie and his book.
Your “assignment”: After reading this description and looking at the linked pages please take time to consider the benefits of Family Constellations as a way to change a person’s inner remembering process regarding their family’s history of shocks and traumas.
The autonomic nervous system is integral to virtually all processes and perceptions and so it is worth it to also learn about the ANS. The ANS is affected by Family Constellation work and can be a powerful addition to Body psychotherapy and Craniosacral therapy (with Somato-Emotional Release). These all are intended to give you the client more control over your life, so that you can experience more positive changes in your health of body and mind.
I wish you a meaningful and enjoyable day today and always. — Dr. Wilson
Microbes can destroy us, or nurture and strengthen us. My study of what other health care practitioners, therapists, and researchers are doing to help people improve their lives gives me many uplifting experiences. Below is a video of an especially enthusiastic presentation that will give you a glimpse into the complex collection of clues that I consider when I am asked to help someone with a puzzling health situation. After I posted that I later added the picture to the left and the link to the article about various types of “Parasites” that can live inside of our bodies. It is in the August 2000 Discover Magazine, titled “Do Parasites Rule the World?”]
[Updated January 11, 2012: Check back in the near future for more information about GI health and what is being called the Human Microbiome. A science writer I know wrote this update about the effects of a report from Germany about the microbes in the human digestive system. You can also check out this earlier listing of articles on gut bacteria and brain function, from Psychiatrist Charles Parker -- Brain, Gut and Behavior: Bacteria Matter.]
Those of you who are familiar with what is being called “Functional Medicine” will recognize the term — Epigenetics. The word “Epigenetics” introduces the new field of study that scientists opened up when they discovered the “Gene Sequence” of the DNA that is found in living cells. In fact, scientists found out that we can’t completely control Life by learning the DNA sequence of things. They found out that the most important factor in “gene expression” is the surrounding environment which influences which portion of the DNA is available for “transcription” into various cellular products. This surrounding environment could also be called the “Matrix” of all the influences that affect DNA activity.After you have watched that short video by molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, you will be ready to understand why I am so enthusiastic about the benefits of Natural Medicine when it comes to the puzzle of how to keep ourselves healthy and free of raging infections from various microbes (this includes bacteria, and parasites and likely viruses as well as far as I understand the concept of the Matrix). You can read more online in citations about her work with “Quorum Sensing” at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute by clicking on this Google search.If you have not yet read about The Living Matrix and viewed the movie titled “The Living Matrix”, I encourage you to click on the words above, The Living Matrix.
Now you will see why what Dr. Bassler describes is so very important to keeping ourselves healthy.
A caution: Because she is researching methods of creating new antibiotics Dr. Bassler’s conclusions will likely be to recommend new (and expensive) medications. Her new drugs may be very helpful. However, as a Natural Medicine practitioner I will also point out that we might achieve similar results if we took action to change the matrix or the environment inside of us such as by using garlic to reduce the activity of the microbes within us.
We might also choose to improve the speed of our gastrointestinal system. Natural health practitioners often refer to “bowel health”, and some even declare on the Internet that, “death begins in the colon,” which is a dramatic but often sadly true statement.
The community that is YOU: [Expanded, January 11, 2012] Now that you have seen Dr. Bassler’s video and learned also about The Living Matrix, I want to point out one of the biggest factors of all in keeping yourself and your loved ones healthy — the larger way of understanding “epigenetics”:
The people around you, and the world around you too (including air, water, chemicals, etc.) all have effects on how you feel and how your cells function.
Usually these effects are not visible and most people never spend time thinking about how they might change their surroundings so that they could improve their health. However, these may make the difference between living a vibrant life or suffering a continuing struggle to cope.
This factor of “matrix epigenetics” is included in my earlier posting about “Neuroplasticity” [link] and the way that our brain and nerve cells are affected by what is around them. “Cells that fire together wire together,” is a phrase that neuroscientists sometimes use.
One way to benefit from that idea is that you are affected by the thoughts that you allow to circulate in your brain. I write about that in the blog about No Room for Rocks.
This is where the benefits [and the shortcomings] of “Mindfulness” come to the front.
In my studies of what other practitioners are doing I have developed a respect for the value of being aware of what our brains are thinking, which is the basic contribution of people who provide “Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy.” With my patients I encourage an appreciation of the “Mindfulness” approach. However, I also add that they need to understand the factors that affect the mind’s function such as poor nutrition, stressful electro-magnetic radiation, and “toxic relationships” — and the Three Control System model of how your control your life. Especially important in that essay is the link to the works of Dr. Stephen Porges, and Dr. David Eagleman whose presentations describe the added flexibility that comes when we understand that our inner protector, the Autonomic Nervous System, has three levels to it and not only a “Sympathetic Nervous System” aspect and a “Parasympathetic Nervous System” aspect. They join the growing number of researchers and clinicians who recognize the health impact of the person’s “Social Engagagement System” (“Social Nervous System“).
A last addition is this link to the Family Constellation approach to the effects of distortions in the flow of loving regard in an individual’s family and ancestry.
After you learn about the expanded options that come from Natural Medicine and Mental Health [link], you can focus your own study about the factors that affect your health. You can take increasing control over the influences on your health, and increase your options for choosing approaches and practitioners to help you achieve and protect vibrant health.
Lions, dogs chewing bones, chess players and football practice all gives clues to the value of Play for health support.
You might enjoy reading about the National Institute for Play [National Institute for Play]. The research by Stuart Brown, M.D., clearly reveals the benefits of a playful attitude and shows that it is much more than a child’s activity.
In my trainings with Dietrich Klinghardt, M.D., Ph.D. we were regularly reminded that when patients are experiencing the deep psychological work that he calls Applied Psycho-Neurobiology, we practitioners should be “playfully inquisitive.” That describes a kind of “play” in which the practitioner is flowing with what is important to the client rather than attempting to push events into an expected outcome.
Dr. Brown presents his material in a video that is available at the link above about his National Institute for Play. He says that play is something that adults need to do, and that it is a very intellectually stimulating activity that allows the person to move beyond the confines of rigid expectations.
This has important implications for those who are exploring the benefits of Mindfulness as described so well by our team member Charles Gant, M.D. When combined with a mindful observation of one’s actions during a time of playfulness, a person can benefit from a “snapshot” of how their inner processes are working.
Sometimes the results of such a “Mindfulness snapshot” are reaffirming of our grounded and self-confident approach to life. But sometimes a person may be able to observe how they are not as flexible or creative as they would like to be. The First Aid for this is to be mindful and not allow room for disrespecting one’s self. The “Cure” is to explore more deeply for hidden effects of things such as “toxic memories” and other disturbing factors that limit our autonomic nervous system’s self-correcting mechanisms.
Dr. Klinghardt’s Applied Psycho-Neurobiology and other techniques can be very powerful ways to remove “toxic memories” from childhood or traumas later in life.
The NES ProVision technology that I often use is another way of checking the functional strength of the “human bodyfield” including factors that can affect mental health. This is sometimes called a NES biophysics scan because it is based on a quantum physics approach to understanding the deeper functions of human health. The NES scan includes assessment of the bodyfield information patterns that affect emotions and mental health. This can sometimes provide major clues to the puzzle of “why can’t I play?”
So, if you don’t happen to feel like being playful after you have read this, check out the information linked above and consider seeing me or one our integrative medicine team. We can help you to remove the blockages to self healing and smooth out distortions in the unconscious information stored inside you.
And, speaking as a doctor of natural medicine, remember that this is the Winter season and that gradually the new energies of the Springtime will be adding their uplifting effect to your life.
Enjoy your Journey. I invite you to consult with me if you need some help doing that.
The Old Guard was only partly right: At the start, take a moment and gaze on this picture of warm-water-based therapy. This is a method of gently releasing muscle and mental tightness. Until recently it was seen as lacking science to prove that it offers more than other types of rehabilitation. [My introduction to Watsu/Aquatic Therapy.]
The neuroscience development that I find very encouraging is The Polyvagal Theory. This describes three levels of the Autonomic Nervous System. I introduce this in my page on Dr. Porges. I also include it in New Brain Science and FlexAware Neurological and Structural Integration. This scientific classification of subsets of neurological circuity allows us to avoid the need to call things “spiritual” or “higher purpose” in order to explain why our brains don’t easily figure out why it is crucial for humans to be kind to others and to experience safety as much as possible.
This is a graphic that I constructed to show the three levels of the ANS existing in one entity, your inner protector. [Autonomic Science]
This image illustrates situations in which the body can experience symptoms in a wide array of areas due to intense response by the ANS. Sometimes an ache or pain may be related to an underlying global struggle going on inside the body (such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity — MCS, Fibromyalgia — FMS).
As described in that blog, a person has three Control Systems that can each act on its own without interference by the others. I then tell the person that “the real You — higher, or deeper, or more complex” – is above those systems (the purple ring enclosing them).
This link is to my Amen Clinics certified Education Center which is undergoing upgrading as Dr. Amen releases new programs and a new DVD.
I built this ship in a bottle (it’s a cider jug) many years ago and keep it as a reminder of exploration of the seas of life.
My thought for you today might be applicable to the loving relationship you may have with another person. However, I’m talking about Relationship as it applies to an even closer interplay — you in relationship to yourself.
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