For yet another thoughtful post on the science of positive psychology, you can't go far wrong with taking a look at Jeremy's PsyBlog for great summaries on this area of research.

I'm keen to find out more about positive psychology for use with people who experience persistent pain - it makes sense to me that we help people use existing resources that are well-rehearsed, already valued and almost 'automatic' rather than trying to get people to develop new skills that need all that spade-work before they become useful.
BUT, and it's a big but, this 'sense' is what can get us all into trouble - common sense is not all that common, and therapists really need to *know* that what they're using has a good evidence-base, or we run the risk of experimenting on people who are already vulnerable.

In looking to write this post, I stumbled upon a bunch of 'Happy happy, Joy joy' sites that promise all sorts of good things - like "I researched for two years to find the cure for my pain and now I'm ready to share it with you" (for a fee...); and "how to build confidence through [insert your favourite remedy and pay, pay, pay]" - sorry about the skepticism.

So Jeremy's post is a great exploration of the potential of positive psychology science - both for shams to jump on the bandwagon, and for true research to be adopted as mainstream.
Keep an eye out for things that look too real to be true - they probably are - but also keep an eye out for further research in this area of psychology, it could just hold some gems that we can all use.

As we begin the New Year, those of us who suffer with chronic pain want hope that this year will be better.  We want less pain, improved quality of life and the ability to live as “normal” a life as possible.  Those of you who care for us, as both professionals and loved ones want that for us too.  We all want it now.  I understand; I am the same.  So how do we keep that hope and motivation but accept our current reality?  If we don’t accept the way things are, we are fighting against ourselves.  Whatever you truly accept you can begin to change.  For this New Year:

1. Treat yourself well every day.  It is your job whether you have chronic pain, are a professional or a loved one/caregiver to make each day sparkle for yourself.  There will be good days and bad days; the trick is to find some joy in all of them.  Treat yourself to one thing every day, big or small because you deserve it.
2.  Slow down and pace yourself.  Remember it’s more about direction than speed. Really enjoy the moment, whether it’s from a bed, wheelchair or standing.  Feel the sun, appreciate nature, hear children’s laughter.  It’s all there and it only takes a few minutes to soak it in.     
3. Be an advocate for yourself and for those less fortunate.  No matter what your circumstances there is always someone who needs your voice.  Speak your truth.  Don’t hold back.  Do what you can and you will become more and more empowered.  Join with others (i.e. Missouri Pain Initiative or your related health condition) and you will become focused and more energized knowing there are others with your concerns and passion.
4. Most of all be gentle with you.  Whatever your circumstances.  You are doing the best you can.  You are growing.  Talk softly and kindly to yourself and others.  Pat yourself on the back every day for everything accomplished big and small (sometimes making it through the day is it).  Love and honor yourself and 2007 will be a good year.

May you have a New Year’s filled with faith, hope, love and perseverance.

The slow, flowing movements look like a dance, but it is what goes on inside the body that makes Tai chi different: During a class recently, I felt as if my body were getting hooked up to a universal "filling station" and being replenished with energy. The result? Better ease of movement, increased flexibility and a sense of peaceful well-being. I do a "short form" almost every morning that takes all of ten minutes, one of the helpful ways I have found to live with Marfan syndrome.

Tai chi originated thousands of years ago as part of the ancient system of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The movements have their origins in martial arts, but are performed slowly, with controlled breathing and an awareness of the flow of energy inside the body. Tai chi has been called "moving meditation."

Studies have found that Tai chi strengthens the immune system and can help with pain caused by osteoarthritis of the knee. In other research, Tai chi has been found to improve balance and coordination in older people, and reduce falls. It can also help with osteoporisis by  increasing bone density.

All in all, not a bad ten-minute investment of time. Anyone else have Tai chi stories to share?

Next to Gregory House, MD, I am, perhaps, the luckiest Vic user on the face of the planet.

First of all, over the last week, I've had to cut way-way-way back on my White Wonder usage, disciplining myself down to one per day, because I am almost completely out of them and didn't think I would ever see another prescription.

For a while, as you might recall, during the breakup, (also known as the deepest, darkest autumn depression I've ever experienced), I was up to 6-8 per day (sometimes more, I think, because I lost track). To suddenly go from taking it whenever you want to taking only one per day and facing a future of never seeing them again, you'd think my body would start to detox, right? I'd have some kind of bad reaction, right?

Well, no not really. Aside from some very mild anxiety and nighttime leg crawlies, I've been okay. Lots of headaches that come and go, just like the last time. Still some residual pain in my shoulder and occasional aching in my elbow, but otherwise, I'm surprised to report that one a day seems to be controlling the pain well enough for me to function, and my weeklong detox has been uneventful.

Believe me, after all the reports I've read of people having major meltdowns after stopping Vic usage, I thought I'd be in detox hell right now. I have a theory that, perhaps because it is a synthetic op, my body is reacting to it differently than it would a natural one. Maybe? I honestly can't explain it. One might also theorize that it's the Atkins low carb lifestyle working for me. My body has changed biochemically, creating a higher natural endorphin-producing mental state in which I simply don't need the little white wonders anymore. One might also say it's because I'm losing weight and taking better care of myself mentally and physically, therefore, I'm in a natural state of well-being created by my circumstances. Maybe all those things combined is what's working.

Either way, I seem to be doing fine on just one a day. Pain is manageable. Brain is doing okay too. That said, there are only two pills left in the bottle.

The thought of facing a future without any of the little suckers terrifies me. So, in a last-ditch bid to see if I could worm one more Rx out of my doc, I nonchalantly called in a refill, thinking that he would certainly turn it down (but satisfied my urge to at least TRY). Much to my surprise, they didn't reject it at all. In fact, the office called to say the script is ready now—a full two days early—and I can pick it up anytime I want. Holy freakin' crap!

You might also recall that my previous doctor never prescribed narcotics for anything. And I do mean anything. You could go into his office with a broken leg with blood gushing out and he'd tell you to take an aspirin and quit complaining. He was later picked up by the fuzz for writing himself prescriptions for Oxycontin and Fentanyl, and is presently facing jail time and license revocation. There has even been talk among his patients for suing him for malpractice for NOT treating their pain! This new doctor takes my pain seriously—a little too seriously thank God—and for that, I am ever grateful. I'm also very conscious of the fact that I don't want him to get into any kind of trouble for prescribing the little suckers. I have legitimate pain; frankly, how I treat it (as long as I'm not hurting anybody) should be my business.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Pfizer Inc. is eliminating 660 jobs at it's plant near Terre Haute, Indiana.  This is due to poor sales of Pfizer's inhaled insulin drug, Exubera.  Apparently this should come as no surprise to workers who have been on paid leave since production was halted in October.

Pfizer also makes the following psychotropics, or closely related drugs:  Dilantin, Navane,  and Xanax, which are not effected by the shut down.

By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
January 30, 2008

President Bush yesterday said for the first time that he was actually addicted to alcohol.  This may be a cause for celebration for care givers and addicted people who usually need great resources of hope to conquer addictions.

We are facing a crisis of drug and alcohol addiction in America. Most experts agree that about ten percent of our population of 300 million people are addicted or routine users. Many more family members, friends, co-workers and employers suffer harmful consequences – and our medical establishment is strained by people suffering from addictions.

On January 1, 2008, in almost every hospital emergency room across America, at least one or two individuals could be found suffering from Delirium Tremens (DTs), milder tremors, seizures and other alcohol and drug-related overdose symptoms.

My friend, physician and recovering alcoholic Len, took me for a post-party tour of a big city hospital emergency room on January 1.

“Look at the carnage following the biggest annual drinking binge Americans wink at every year. It will look like this the Monday after the Super Bowl, too,” Len told me.

In fact, experts say “Super Bowl Sunday” is the biggest day for drinking in America because it is an all day party. Most police agencies issue more tickets for impaired driving on “Super Sunday” than on any other day. And the Center for Science in the Public Interest claims that beer and alcohol advertizing for the Super Bowl targets underage drinkers.

Len invited me into his work environment after reading a Washington Times commentary I wrote for the December 27, 2007 editions. That article discussed the time of year when many recovering alcoholics and drug abusers relapse and end up in the hospital: the “holiday” season between Thanksgiving and January 1.

“For all sorts of reasons, many of the addicted who are in recovery and making progress crash and burn during the holidays. I think the pressure and chaos of buying too many presents and acting like a boy scout drives some in recovery back into really bad and sometimes fatal habits,” Len said.

Len is a recovering alcoholic who attends daily Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meetings. Len is not his real name. We agreed to protect his anonymity in keeping with A.A. traditions and guarantees.

As an emergency room physician, Len has gained invaluable insight into the disease of the mind called addiction. He is also an expert in how many of his colleagues treat alcoholics and the drug addicted.

“Most physicians I know are first rate. They care deeply for their patients, spend the time necessary to provide excellent care, and operate fair and honest practices,” Len told me.

But once Len finished with what sounded like an American Medical Association (AMA) commercial, I told him I had personally seen some sloppy, even potentially criminally negligent “care” of the addicted doled out by his MD colleagues.

Two patients seeking emergency care for bouts with alcohol were not admitted to emergency rooms while I researched this topic. They were told to make an appointment for ten days to two weeks into the future. For some: this poses a life-threatening dilemma.

We also experienced physicians mis-prescribing and over prescribing drugs and medications to patients they knew to be addicted.

One doctor had his sleepless patient on Ambien for two years. The maximum recommended duration of Ambien therapy is one week. Ambien is addictive. Withdrawal symptoms include behavior changes, stomach pain, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, sweating, anxiety, panic, tremors, and seizure (convulsions).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns doctors and pharmacists not to prescribe Ambien to alcoholics or other addicts.

We also saw doctors giving Xanax to drinking alcoholics to relieve anxiety.

Xanax relieves anxiety in people who do not drink: but it is never recommended for heavy drinkers. This medication may cause dependence. Addicts frequently react violently to the drug and vomit sometimes for hours after taking it and experience other distressing and even life-threatening side effects.

We also met a man who went to his doctor two years ago with severe anxiety symptoms. Today he rarely ventures out from his one-bedroom apartment. There are three deadbolts on the door. He has five physician prescribed drugs delivered to his apartment when he needs refills. He is no longer able to work. He is lost as a productive member of his family and our American society. 

Bill Alexander, who manages a private drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, recently told us, “There are doctors in America who are killing alcoholics and drug abusers because they haven’t properly availed themselves to the literature and education needed for treating the addicted and they pay too little attention to the warnings associated with all medications."

We also observed a clear disregard for many addicted patients: an attitude and actions akin to racial prejudice.

Alcoholics and others are frequently looked down upon and can be viewed as “winos” or other disreputable types not worthy of full and complete diagnosis and care.

If the addicted man or woman seeking treatment causes the doctor to become unsettled, the doctor might quickly end the evaluation phase of treatment and hastily write prescriptions for pain killers, sleep aids and other drugs.

“Some doctors, but clearly not all, cut corners. They reach for the prescription pad too readily. They under evaluate and over-prescribe. They are in too much of a hurry. Even when the vast majority of care givers to the addicted advise doctors to first consider a cold-turkey detoxification – without the benefit of additional medications,” said Dr. Len.

“We doctors write prescriptions sometimes even when they are not mandated. Insurance companies pay most of the cost and the doctor feels that he has taken action on behalf of his patient. Some have even told me, ‘I gave the patient exactly what he wanted.’”

The patients, because they are addicted, often act irrationally and not in their own best interests. They self medicate, over medicate, and “shop” for agreeable doctors willing and ready to help them get their “fix.”

Addicts are risk takers – and even knowing that buying drugs below cost and on the street probably means the drugs are impure, dangerous or otherwise filled with a foreign country’s idea of a money-making substitute – they often use and abuse until death.

Despite the herculean efforts of an army of diligent care-givers and treatment facilities nation-wide, many alcoholics or drug addicted people are misdiagnosed, living on the streets, ignored, abused or shunned. Treatment facilities and in-patient care is at maximum capacity with no room for new comers. And the care of medical professionals is stretched thin.

One doctor told us, only after asking for anonymity, “You’ll be lucky if this man can see a physician’s assistant or a nurse. There are no doctors available.”

And more doctors may not necessarily make things better.

"Calling for more doctors, like prescribing more drugs, for an already overmedicated patient, may only make things worse," said Dr. David Goodman, a professor of pediatrics and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, which researches heath care quality and costs.

He says as the American population grows and the “baby boomers” enter their retirement years, more doctors writing more prescriptions and seeing more patients only escalates the costs of an already exorbitantly expensive medical system.

He favors more study and analysis before anyone jumps to conclusions on how to solve the multi-faceted dilemma of our medical system’s future.

Then there is the case of actor Heath Ledger, who died in January 2008 in New York.

Though Heath himself admitted to The New York Times in November that he has taken two Ambien in a row to battle insomnia, psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow says that the likelihood of an Ambien overdose is unlikely.

“By and large, Ambien is not something people overdose on,” he said. But Ambien is addictive and how it interacts in the human body with other prescription medications like those in Mr. Ledger’s SoHo living quarters is unclear.

Mr. Ledger had Xanax, Valium and other drugs in his apartment.

“It’s all Russian roulette once you start using these medicines in excess or start using these medicines with illegal drugs,” said Dr. Ablow, author of Living the Truth.

Of all of these prescription drugs, Xanax can be particularly harmful, especially considering that the Brokeback Mountain star reportedly had issues with substance abuse.

“If I could have taken one agent out of his possession prior to these events, and said, ‘This one is absolutely one you can’t have,’ it would’ve been a Xanax,” he says.

“I would never prescribe Xanax to someone with a potential substance abuse history — ever.”

The reason? Xanax is highly addictive because it takes effect quickly and is relatively short-acting (the pleasurable feeling you receive from it only lasts about four hours).

In contrast, Ambien can take longer to take effect and lasts eight hours, so a person can get a build-up of substances in their system without realizing it. Also, people who have a history of drug abuse are often unreliable in taking their medicines at the proper time or in the proper dose.

Often, drug abusers and addicts mix drugs recklessly.“I can think of few worse combinations than Xanax and cocaine because Xanax slows the heart and cocaine speeds the heart up, so you have two substances at odds with each other,” said Dr. Ablow. “So you can have a situation where someone is trying to dose themselves to an ideal mood state but their cardiac status is deteriorating and they can’t tell because Xanax suppresses the racing heartbeat.”

The bottom line is this: despite their best intentions, medical professions do not always have the time nor the knowledge to properly treat serious drug abusers and the addicted.

Secondly, too many times, doctors are in a rush and the addicted receive less than the full attention of medical staffs who determine that they have “higher priorities.”

Finally, the knowledge of how different drugs interact in the human body is far from complete. In fact, mixing drugs and doctor shopping are seriously dangerous and often times fatal.

John E. Carey is a frequent contributor to The Washington Times, a former senior U.S. military officer and president of International Defense Consultants, Inc.

Related:
Bush Enlists Alcohol Past in New Cause

Teen Media Idols: Drunk, Naked, Pregnant, Unashamed (We Have Pictures!)

Nationwide Imminent Danger Alert

Drug Abuse, Drug Overdose Killed Heath Ledger
(February 6, 2008)

We added this new information on Wednesday evening, 30 January:Heath Ledger's abuse of heroin, cocaine and pills forced his ex-fiancee Michelle Williams to drive him to rehab in 2006, but he didn't want to go, Us Weekly reports.For three years, Williams was a firsthand witness to the actor's use of alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, heroin and "a variety of pills," a Ledger confidant reportedly told the magazine.In March 2006 — when their daughter, Matilda, was only 5 months old — Williams drove Ledger to Promises Treatment Center in Malibu, Calif., the confidant reportedly told Us Weekly. Ledger refused to check in, instead swaying her with a pledge to clean up, the source said.

Both Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan were treated at Promises.

Even after the couple realized "they were in way over their heads," according to a source, and split in September 2007, two sources told Us that Williams demanded Ledger be drug-tested before his visitations with Matilda.

When news of Ledger's death broke last Tuesday, Williams was inconsolable, another source said.

"She cried and screamed as soon as she heard," a source on the Swedish set of her latest film, "Mammoth," told Us Weekly.

For some years I've taught a postgraduate course in pain and pain management - my responsibility is to teach the psychosocial components, while I coordinate the content of both papers.  Recently I had a discussion with a colleague who suggested that the psychosocial component was over-represented, while the biophysical was under-represented.

At the time I didn't agree, and on reflection I still don't agree.

For years undergraduates in most health professions have received information on pain that consists almost entirely of biophysical data, coming from a biomedical model.  There is still minimal information at an undergraduate level in medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing or psychology training that covers pain in any shape or form, and what information there is tends to be about neurophysiology, acute pain, and about 'injury' or tissue damage.  When psychosocial material is given any time at all, it's represented as a 'response' to pain (ie physical injury), or referred to in the same breath as chronic pain (ie a confounding factor only in individuals who are having trouble coping with persistent pain).

The definition of pain as given by the International Association for the Study of Pain is "... an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage." By definition, people who experience pain are feeling it as an emotional event. 'Psychosocial factors' are integral to the experience of pain! We can't experience pain without it being a psychological event...

The problem is, that while most health professionals gain a grounding in anatomy and physiology, and even in tissue pathology, nerve conduction - and healing... not nearly as many are aware of the fundamentals of pain behaviour, the place of psychosocial factors as both integral to the experience of pain and as factors that may complicate recovery (from acute onset of pain right through to coping with persistent pain and ongoing disability).

So in teaching postgraduate pain and pain management, people like me who teach 'behavioural medicine' or psychosocial aspects of pain and pain management to health professionals have to start with the basics of the difference between pain and pain behaviour, health and pain anxiety, measurement concepts, the role of the brain and emotions and attention and cognition, not to mention learning and reinforcement and allied concepts!

So if, in teaching at postgraduate level, I am emphasising the psychosocial, I hope that it's in an effort to redress the imbalance of undergraduate knowledge that is carried over into professional health care.  Roll on the day when undergraduates receive sufficient training in pain as a complex, multidimensional experience that involves the biophysical, psychological and social aspects of being human.   Until then I think I need to spend a good deal of time just covering the basics...

Richard M. Cohen has finally finished his long awaited (by me for sure) book about living with chronic illness in America. More money will be spent for the Iraq "war" in two days than will be spent in a year by the National Health Institute (NIH) for chronic illnesses. Many citizens suffer in silence, wearing their diseases like heavy bricks of shame around their necks. "Multiple Sclerosis won't kill you but you will just wish you were dead." How many of you with a chronic illness feel exactly like that?Finding our way to some semblance of normalcy and happiness should be our never ending goal. Many conditions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia are without visible symptoms; and without a known cause until now!

Ongoing symptoms associated with a lack of objective findings and negative test results simply suggest that a cause has yet to be identified. In order to successfully resolve any symptom you must be able to accurately identify the cause. The cause of any symptom can be rooted in one of three places. It can be rooted in the physical structure of the body or it can be entrenched in the biochemistry. But it can also be ingrained in the virtual realm. This realm is comprised of the psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being.

Since chronic illness often presents no known cause and even those already diagnosed provide no solution, it is often helps to gain perspective by looking at things nobody else is looking at in ways that nobody else is looking at them.

For the cause of vague and persistent symptoms to be detected in the absence of a diagnosable disease, the challenge is to determine which symptoms are associated with which cause. The goal is to restore balance to the whole person. Too often the emerging symptoms of an imbalance are simply masked with medications to create the illusion of balance.
 

A Vicious Cycle Disorder (VCD) is a symptom with no apparent cause. In fact, chronic symptoms represent undiagnosed causes. Imbalances associated with VCD will present themselves as symptoms of commonly diagnosed ailments. All too frequently, the symptoms are diagnosed and treated as a disease. In reality, most of the conditions treated with conventional solutions are only symptoms of imbalances or deficiencies. They are usually given names that, in no way represent, the actual cause of the symptoms. In fact, they are simply names for the symptoms being experienced but offer no solution.The human body is perfectly designed to alter its response in the most productive way to any stimulus. The same innate intelligence that monitors the six trillion functions per second activities of 60 trillion cells is fully capable of affecting a cure. In fact, the process is identifiable, predictable and reproducible. But, there are a couple of self-imposed obstacles. First, we tend to interfere with the mechanisms of dis-ease (treat symptoms), while relying on research, outcome studies, and statistics to arrive at tentative solutions based upon the majority of responses to a symptom-based treatment. Secondly, we fail to recognize, support, and encourage the innate biological creativity of the body. In outcome-based research studies this is usually represented by a statistical summary that suggests something like 90% of the people with this (symptom-based condition) will thrive for 3-6 months if given this symptom based solution. What about the other 10%? They have experienced spontaneous remission denoted as anomalous due to the process of biological creativity, which we assume to be out of our conscious control as it produces results that are inconsistent with our previous experiences, belief systems, and typical responses. Biological expression is an interpretation of our perceptions. But where do our perceptions come from? Perceptions originate with our thoughts but are filtered through the limits of our ability to experience them with our senses. The thoughts that catapult the preliminary data into our awareness appear randomly based upon our exposure, environment, and social conditioning.One of the reasons that this occurs is because we falsely assume that the physical experience is material in nature, when in fact, the physical universe is comprised of atoms, comprised of sub-atomic particles, comprised of photons (light), comprised of information and energy, comprised of probability amplitudes, comprised of possibilities (the essence of quantum physics). Quantum Physics goes on to suggest that nothing exists until it is observed. Therefore, unless you have a well-formed pathology in place, the cause of your symptoms is likely to go unresolved until it matures.  

Quantum Insights

While highly technical at first glance, no discussion of the virtual would be complete without at least a passing mention of the interpretations offered by a bizarre world of organized chaos known as quantum physics. Aside from the disciplined structures used to communicate the essence of this seemingly unintelligible branch of science, quantum physics offers insight into the dynamics of Vicious Cycle Disorders. It does this through the eyes of a concept called wave-particle duality that forms the basis of modernthought relative to our existence and potential as human beings. These subatomic particles are the raw materials which comprise the virtual realm. To give you some perspective on this short course of quantum phenomenon and its relationship to the subject matter of this article, simply understandthat physics is essentially concerned with the way matter interacts with other matter. Quantum physics is just the physics of the incrediblysmall. It attempts to explain the behavior of these very, very small particles. The reason that quantum physics needs complex math to explain these behaviors and properties is because the world of subatomic particles isfilled with probabilities and organized chaos. While you don’t have to understand these concepts to consciously change your life experience, itcan be helpful to understand that there are some distinct principles that govern activities, and which influence the results of the choices you maketo create your life experiences. You can consciously employ these principles to achieve any desired result, including the resolve of chronic, undiagnosed symptoms.But one does not need to understand quantum physics to initiate this process. In fact this is the natural order of things. The ultimate expression of a possibility can be determined by the intention to experience a given outcome and the attention given to its expression (what you focus on expands). In nature (and biological evolution), these precise steps are enacted to achieve a desired result. On a practical level this amounts to identifying the problem, acquiring information about the problem and possible solutions, determining an intended outcome, incubating the information until we are inspired to act, implement a potential solution, integrate this solution into our attempts to restore balance, modify the details as we monitor the changes and ultimately arrive at the 10% solution (remission or incarnation).

Whatever you might be experiencing as chronic symptoms inevitably has a cause. Therefore, this “problem” cannot possibly exist without the presence of a solution. Since our external reality is merely a reflection of internal processes we have an opportunity to evaluate undiagnosed symptoms in light of imbalances and deficiencies, long before they become identifiable as diagnosable disease entities. Herein lie the power and the beauty of a Matrix Assessment Profile. Since nothing exists until you observe it, the M.A.P. presents us with the opportunity to shift our focus and seek out a cause in places of observation that few consider worth evaluating. 

Larry King asked Meredith what it was like to live with someone who has a chronic illness. (Her husband, Richard M. Cohen has had MS for thirty years and is legally blind; he also fought through colon cancer, all chronicled in his previous book, "Blindsided.")

"When you live with chronic illness it just becomes a part of the fabric of your life. There are days that are good and there are days that are bad for each of us...Richard said, "A lot of dealing with chronic illness is psychological; it's really how you want to see yourself." He added that a mind game is a big part of surviving and having a good life. Chronic illness is not a death sentence. You really must rise above and lead the life you want. He said the downside of what was for him a very positive experience, was knowing that some of the lives of the people he met will probably end too soon. For more articles and information just like this, visit: www.matrixtransformation.com

Britney Spears appears to think Heath Ledger is still here — in some form. When asked by photographers how she felt about Heath Ledger's death, Britney replied in her newfound faux British accent, "He’s still here. Oh, yes. No one ever really dies. No one," according to a report by Us Magazine.Kudos to Britney! She’s actually not that far off – at least in this respect! From the library of ancient Egypt’s Alexandria comes this paraphrased reassurance. The universe is wholly connected. It includes us and responds to our every whim. It allows for us to define our vision and make adjustments as we collect data. Our thoughts define what is and what is to be, while our feelings and emotions provide the impetus for manifesting a desired reality. The general theory of relativity shows us that the human mind follows different rules than the real world does. A rational mind, with the impressions that it receives from its limited perspective, forms structures that thereafter determine what it further will and will not freely accept. From that point on, regardless of how the real world actually operates, this rational mind follows its own self-imposed rules and tries to superimpose on the real world its own version of what must be.  Taking a closer look at subatomic particles as a group, the behavior currently being exhibited by Britney could be described as a Vicious Cycle Disorder. A Vicious Cycle Disorder (VCD) is a symptom with no apparent cause. In fact, chronic symptoms represent undiagnosed causes. Ongoing symptoms associated with a lack of objective findings and negative test results simply suggest that a cause has yet to be identified. In order to successfully resolve any symptom you must be able to accurately identify the cause.Often times we tend to assume that imbalances and deficiencies exist only in the physical realm and are strictly limited to physical symptoms and disorders. But there may be more here than meets the eye!By merely observing Britney’s recent antics we can assume a life out of balance and until we begin to look at things nobody else is looking at in ways that nobody else is looking at them – we may be missing some important factors in the early diagnosis of a paradigm that ultimately leads to choices, habits, and behaviors, every bit as dangerous as toxic substance abuse! When these imbalances and deficiencies drive behavior they can accumulate into Vicious Cycle Disorders (VCD), leading to disastrous outcomes.But, unless and until Ms. Spears commits to allowing these brief moments of laser-like insight to incubate into a more productive resource we’ll have to assume the ancient wisdom of an even simpler comment will dictate her future outcomes. “Unless you change direction you are likely to end up where you are headed!”

For more articles and information like this, visit: www.matrixtransformation.com

Whatever your lifestyle or personal challenges, stress is something all of us experience!  And, as we all know, it is something that affects our health and happiness in many different ways.

Chinese medicine excels in understanding and relieving stress and its effects on the body. We may think of stress as a modern issue; but classical Chinese medical texts frequently list emotional strain or upset as a cause of disease. Optimum health depends on the smooth flow of energy, or qi, through the body's systems. And stress, tension, and unhappiness of all kinds can block that flow. If you've ever noticed what your body feels like at the end of a busy, lonely, or high-pressured day, you know what I'm talking about.

According to the American Institute of Stress, between 75 and 90 percent of visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems. Examples might include digestive problems, insomnia, depression, menstrual symptoms, infertility, headaches, back and neck pain, fatigue, anxiety, and chronic pain syndromes - all of which are aggravated by stress. (Not surprisingly, this reads like a list of conditions that respond well to acupuncture and herbal medicine.) Taking care of your stress level is one of the best ways to take care of your health.

Here are some suggestions:

1. As much as possible, eat well. Keep sugar and caffeine intake under control, and try to eat meals at regular times to keep your blood sugar and energy level steady. Everything is easier to deal with when we are well-nourished!
2. Exercise!  Stress causes tension in the body, which impedes the smooth flow of energy, causing more physical and mental tension. Exercise of any kind gets the qi moving again. Try a 20-30 minute walk daily (if you dress warmly enough, it feels good to be outside!), yoga, or your favorite gym routine.
3. Have an acupuncture treatment. (You knew I'd say that!) Anyone who has dozed off on the treatment table can attest to the fact that acupuncture is very relaxing. In addition to relieving symptoms, acupuncture has a soothing and balancing effect on the nervous system.  This can help you get out of the stress cycle and approach your week in a more centered way.
4. Spend some time with your closest, most comfortable people. Our lives can be busy, and sometimes full of people we might not choose to spend time with; don't forget to recharge yourself with some easy, nourishing connections.
5. Do some self-massage, using the acupressure point Liver 3 (see the next post, Acupressure for Stress). Or, if you can talk someone into giving you a foot massage, even better!