don't forget to get sick sometimes!

Read more!

I'm sitting here enjoying an Emergen-C cocktail (OK, it's just Emergen-C and water, but it feels like a cocktail after the few days I've just had). I have just had the stomach flu bug that has been taking out the local area and even causing a few schools to close their doors. It's quite a nice image to me, the idea of the whole area being cleansed (if you don't actually imagine the vomit, dry-retching and shitting going on in bathrooms all around town).

I'd love to say my first response to being sick was one of quiet acceptance. But it wasn't. I immediately got involved in a pitiful 'poor me' rant about how I can't afford to be sick and take days off work. I was royally pissed off that this was happening to me, now, of all times, now, when aren't I struggling enough? blah blah blah. That was before I got so busy throwing up and being deliriously feverish that I had no energy to fret about such trivialities as paying rent this month. Actually, even though the night of sweating and tossing and turning and hallucinating was most uncomfortable physically (I have not felt so very SICK for years) it was quite wild spiritually. I'll spare you the wacky details, but somewhere in that night I had quite a transformative experience.

So, once I had come to accept that I was indeed sick, that there was no way I could work because I couldn't even stand up, then I started to enjoy it. I had been thinking for a few months that I 'needed' to get sick. I have been fighting off colds all winter and not getting them but just feeling slightly under the weather for a few days. Although I was happy to keep on working and not getting sick, I had this niggling feeling that if I would just get sick I would feel great afterwards. You know, cleansing and purging and all that stuff.

In true Katie-style I did it well and thoroughly when I finally did it. And I really do feel cleansed and purged (and all that stuff). The day after the delirious night I took full pleasure in not being able to get out of bed, not washing, not eating, not listening to music, just being, in bed. I enjoyed looking at the sunshine out of my window and letting the almost-spring air in. I confess to some brief moments of boredom, because I had no energy to read,write or anything else. And in a moment of panic I called work and said I'd be fine tomorrow. They didn't believe me and told me to call if anything changed. I called back 20 minutes later when I realised that someone with a 100 degree plus temperature and not able to stand up for longer than a few minutes at a time would probably not be fine to work all day tomorrow. And I realised it was rude to go round spreading the sickness if I might still be infectious (despite my propagating the joys and benefits of being sick, I feel it is not something I should impose on unsuspecting others if I can help it).

This next part I apologise for in advance if it offends you... It's an opinion and a personal experience thing. And I certainly don't want people getting involved in flu parties on my advice... (Although, since you mentioned it, remember those chicken-pox parties? Those wise parents knew that you'd be better of getting it now and being immune.)

Our immune systems are designed to deal with pesky intruders. There are reasons we might not want to think that getting sick occasionally could be good for us. (Vaccines, antibiotics - a whole 'nother book waiting to be written about the disasters that they have been - but in a nutshell the viruses that are around these days, mutant super-bugs, are extra scary.) We put an awful lot of effort into not being sick. Of course, we should keep our immune systems healthy, and we all know how to do that. But I think more importantly than avoiding sickness altogether, that should be so that when we do get sick we recover well.

I think our problem is that we try not to get sick because it is an almighty hassle in our lives. It means we have to cancel stuff, change stuff and do nothing for a few days. I challenge us to believe that this can be a good thing. Like a body yelling at us because we ignored all previous warnings ('look, you'll get sick if you don't slow down' -ok, I'll take some echinacea... 'i mean it, I'm tired' - you're strong, let's just keep going, yeah?) 'OK, THAT'S IT, NOW YOU HAVE TO THROW UP AND STAY IN BED FOR 2 DAYS!' - ok.

It has been my experience that when I am sick it works best for me to intervene as little as possible in terms of medicating myself. I'll take echinacea, take vitamin C, zinc, herbal immune boosters etc. I am quite indignant on the harms of taking painkillers etc to reduce fever. If you have a normally functioning immune system then your best bet is to let it do it's work. It is smarter than your desire to feel better and get back to your life.

From a medically-source:
'Your immune system responds to the infection, and in the process of fighting, it produces chemicals called pyrogens that cause your body temperature to increase. This fever actually helps you to fight the infection by slowing down the rate of viral reproduction, because most of your body's chemical reactions have an optimal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). If your temperature rises slightly above this, the reactions slow down. This immune response continues until the viruses are eliminated from your body.'

That's pretty cool. I wouldn't want to mess with that. And I can't help but feel that our immune system gets a good workout and gets stronger when we give it an occasional chance to do its job properly instead of making it work on a low-level constantly while we try not to be sick and run ourselves into the ground with our busy-ness.

OK, I've said my bit ...
May everyone be Healthy!

To protest or not?

Read more!

My best friend is in prison. It's not the first time I've communicated with someone in prison, but it is the first time I have had open and honest, raw communication with someone in prison. My friend is an incredibly intelligent and loving individual. He is my soul friend and I often feel that we are in this together. He's doing the hard part of course, but I am experiencing some things that test me and my sense of what this world is.

What do I do when I hear his stories? How this person who has never physically harmed another being spends huge amounts of time shackled at the feet and hands, sometimes waist? How because he was caught smoking a cigarette when he shouldn't have been has been on 'lock-down' meaning that he is in a cell 23 hours a day, 24 on weekends? How he went for 3 months without seeing daylight, not even through a window? How he was doing fine in his solitary confinement, using the time to meditate, practice Tai Chi and study, but now is struggling after a week of having to share this cell with another man 'on punishment' who talks all day long about violent acts he has committed and that he'd like to commit and who spends a lot of time screaming at the gate? About the fellow inmate, a 20 something year old man who threw piss out of his cell at a passing guard - 6 armed guards with cattle prods came to get him and take him to 'the hole', a cold cell with no light, where you are not allowed to wear clothes and your food gets brought to you only once a day, all meals pureed up together? How the guards belittle and humiliate at any opportunity?

When I was able to go visit, all I saw in prison were a lot of scared and hurting people. That includes the guards. Pain, trauma and hurt, cycles of injustice. Where is the love?

When I hear the stories and think of what my friend and the other inmates are living through I feel sick and disgusted. Like most of us do when we hear stories of injustice, inequality, torture and humiliation inflicted by humans on other humans (and non-humans too). And here lies my challenge - to work out what it is that I am supposed to do.

I have always been in awe of and inspired by activists, demonstrators and reformers. Yet I never felt called to do it myself. Over the years I have beaten myself up about it, wondering perhaps if I am lazy, stupid or other for not getting up and making a scene.

I got off the phone with my friend today and felt disgusted by 'humanity', by how nastily distorted this world has become. What is it all about? It's not right to escape it, but what the fuck are we supposed to do to make it better? And today, for the first time I made peace with that part of me that wanted to feel inadequate for not making a big scene. I realised that my reality is something different, and that's OK. It's OK if I allow someone else to do that good work to change the way things are in the bigger picture. Because, quite honestly, if I were to get involved at that level I'd allow myself to lose myself in craziness about it. I would get bogged down and sick with it all. I figure I'm no use that way. I'm more useful being there for those people I come across in life that need my acceptance and love. Because if we all could be that to everyone we came across there might not be a problem.

TMJ problems

Read more!

OK, here's a short article I wrote for Natural Awakenings Magazine... Hmm, soon I'm going to run out of stuff I already wrote and have to start creating new and exciting things... But for now....

Jaw, neck and shoulder pain, popping in the jaw, bruxism (grinding teeth), ear pain, tinnitus, sinus problems, eye pain, migraines and headaches, dizziness - these are all symptoms of (and often also the cause of) TMJ problems.

The temporal-mandibular joint (TMJ) is a major source of discomfort and pain to many people. TMJ symptoms can be caused by trauma, or muscle tension in the jaw itself or in another part of the body altogether. Treatment for TMJ pain is traditionally by prescription painkillers and/or use of a mouth guard at night. Although this can be effective for some, in many cases relief is only temporary, and often a sufferer is lead to believe that little can be done for the problem except to block the pain. TMJ is often treated solely as a dental problem, and some of the other symptoms listed above are never linked to the TMJ. However, realigning and relaxing the TMJ area can relieve these symptoms as well as helping to regain postural balance throughout the body. Often, misalignment of the pelvis or sacrum is either a cause of or a symptom of TMJ problems.

It is impossible to ignore the emotional and environmental components of TMJ disorders. If one looks at the body as a physical expression of the emotional state, it is easy to see how closely chronic emotional stress and chronic jaw stress are linked. Clenching one's teeth may signify 'biting one's tongue', suppressing emotion, containing anger. Stress and emotional conditions such as depression and anxiety increase both the severity and duration of teeth grinding while asleep. SInce moving to this area, 75% of clients I have seen have suffered with one or more TMJ symptom, most often sinus problems and migraines or headaches. This suggests some environmental factors (perhaps elevation, pollution levels, climate, allergens) are at play.

With all this in mind, it is especially important to look at the big picture when dealing with TMJ symptoms. This means taking into account postural imbalances, past and present health issues and patterns of pain, emotional state, stress or anxiety levels and environmental factors.

Those diagnosed with TMJ syndrome, who suffer with any of these symptoms or feel that a symptom may be related to TMJ, may want to consider bodywork and relaxation techniques to help reduce tension and spasm in the area and improve awareness of how stress affects the body.