The Power of Overcoming Disease

            The more I continue to read Remen’s My Grandfather’s Blessing, the more I find myself agreeing and relating to the stories and situations she so beautifully describes. Throughout this third reading I became very in tune to her discussions of  “blooming”, “pearls of wisdom”, and  “growth”. Each of these chapters was in correlation with one another, but in life many things are. Individuals need stepping stones in order to get from point A to point B, we cannot simply teleport to a different chapter of our lives without missing important lessons or wisdom along the way. For example, if I were to take a plane across the country, I would miss the beauty and the dark and ugly truth that I could capture if traveling by car, bike, or foot. These chapters in My Grandfather’s Blessing reminded me not to rush things and that living in the present is far more valuable than leaping into the future.

            In the first section of Part III, Remen talks about a reoccurring dream that she has. This dream seems horribly “disturbing” and confusing to her for some time until she goes to see an acupuncturist to clear the stress building up within her.

“Suddenly I understood how the rock felt. The rock was afraid to let the bulb bloom. It knew the daffodil’s value and was determined that it must not come to harm. If it bloomed and became visible, it could be hurt. I also understood for the first time that if it did not bloom, the daffodil might die.” (page 134)  

This excerpt, I believe, can relate to many college students. Many times our parents try to “protect” us from the outside world that is chalked full of opportunities to make “bad decisions”, yet if we do not learn to make good decisions ourselves it will only make it harder to in the long run. Some protection is good, but too much protection may shelter a being from a beautiful life and without the ability to blossom there may be no opportunity for this to occur. If given the option to bloom there is room to grow and find strength within one’s self, and if not given the option there only lays a weak being that had potential to thrive. Let’s face it; the world would be at a far more fragile state if everything living upon it were protected like the daffodil was by the rock.

            Growth is only available to an individual if there is not a “rock” lying upon one’s self. Wisdom comes from experiencing life and what it offers one as an individual, but without out growth comes no wisdom.

“An oyster is soft, tender, and vulnerable. Without the sanctuary of its shell it could not survive. But oysters must open their shells in order to “breathe” water. Sometimes while an oyster is breathing, a grain of sand will enter its shell and become a part of its life from then on.” (page 139)

Remen goes on to explain how, with each grain of sand the oyster creates the pearl over a period of time and that not all oysters can do this. As humans, we obviously must breathe in order to live; even if breathing was painful we still must do it in means for survival. Without our breath we cannot experience life, nor could we obtain wisdom from the things that interfere with our lives. I believe if one does not allow things to naturally happen, if one was constantly planning every move, then one would not see the things that are constantly passing them by; life. Going through life on “auto-pilot” does not give room for growth nor wisdom.

            In the chapter “The Way Through”, a young diabetic is troubled by his disease until he learns to find strength within it. The boy has a dream about the Buddha and how strength was found within himself.

“The statue continued to grow, its face peaceful as before. The knife did not change either. Gradually, it became a tiny black speck on the breast of the enormous smiling Buddha. Watching this, David felt something release him and found he could breathe deeply for the first time in a long time. He awoke with tears in his eyes.” (page 142)

David did not understand how to deal with his disease for a long time, but when he accepted himself he learns to overcome his illness as the Buddha did with the knife. My dad has a chronic illness that I believe can sometimes trap him within his body, but without strength he would be this way every day.  Disease can be “lonely, constricting, and terrifying” (page143), as I have witnessed my dad endure this. But like the Buddha, it is possible to “blossom” out of whatever is constricting one’s being whether it be a knife or a disease. Remen beautifully ties together this power of “growth”, “wisdom”, and “strength”. With strength comes freedom.

My Grandfather's Blessing

This week I did not have the blessing of talking to a healer in Vermont but I am reading My Grandfather’s Blessing and have found lovely thoughts within it’s pages I would enjoy sharing. In the second section of My Grandfather’s Blessing, Remen discusses “Becoming a Blessing” and how we (page 81) “refine the quality of our humanity throughout the course of our lives.” Through wisdom, one is taught by those and what surrounds them without being distracted and finding a way to (page 81) “embrace life without judgment.” Through vision, one can be aware of their environment which can change their perspective on life and see blessings all around them. If people can bless life, they allow love and blessings to continue on even after death. By becoming a blessing, the power of blessings passed on can be paid forward for great lengths of time and change many perspectives on living while sharing wisdom with the world.

            “Life offers its wisdom generously. Everything teaches. Not everyone learns.” (page 81) In order to gain wisdom one must open their body and soul to let in what is unknown to them. If people let life pass them by without allowing the surrounding environment to teach them about not only themselves but how they interact with others we as humans cannot spread wisdom. With wisdom, blessings can be passed on and people can create a larger wholeness within their lives.

“But paying attention is no simple matter. It requires us not to be distracted by expectations, past experiences, labels, and masks”. (page 81)

I find it very hard in today’s society to separate from the social ‘norm’ and let surroundings be a teacher rather than the media. It is easy to get distracted with our phones, computers, televisions, and bad influences, yet it occurs every day.  People will gain more wisdom when they allow themselves to be taught by environmental factors that most times they do not recognize on a day to day basis. If we did not have expectations or “labels and masks” in our world we would recognize blessings and wisdom more obviously than we do today.

            “Seeing the Buddha Seed” is one of the chapters that really stood out for me. Remen beautifully describes a common situation, how we may not always see what is directly in front of us.

“The act of seeing can transform the person who sees and cause us to see differently for the rest of our lives.” (page 93)

Many times people allow stereotypes or assumptions to cloud their vision; rather than opening our eyes and letting curiosity take a hold of us, we sit back and ignore things that may not be what they seem. For instance, when Remen is illustrating the scene on the plane it isn’t expected that the “very heavy black woman with a cranky two-year-old” (page 93) has such an incredible story. By seeing clearly without judgment or assumption any story or lesson can be unfolded in front of our eyes, changing our perspective on the entire situation. Here people find wisdom as well as blessings. Here we can become a blessing.

            Remen describes how “blessing life offers us a certain immortality” (page 106), and I completely agree with her. Through loving life, finding wisdom, and seeing without clouded judgment, we bless life and discover that we have become a blessing. When those we love pass on, they are still with us through the power of blessings.

“As Mitch Albom writes in Tuesdays with Morrie, “Death is the end of a lifetime, not the end of a relationship.” (page 108)

After my grandfather passed away there are still small things that constantly remind me of him, even simply looking at pictures I can get a sense that he is still here. Relationships have strong bonds and are not broken after death, it is a blessing to have those you love in your life and if they are not physically here they are spiritually with us. Sometimes it is more noticeable than others, but through this blessing of strong relationships there is wisdom; and through vision we can see blessings. Through relationships we find healing.

Acupuncture/Yin Yang/Mind-Body Connection

Brendan Kelly was kind enough to discuss acupuncture in with me, and what he had to say was not at all what I had expected. I was unaware of that acupuncture mainly consisted of diagnostics and aiding the yin, “represents the cold, slow or passive principle of life; while the yang represents the hot, excited, active one.” (Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine pg. 146) Kelly focused a lot towards the ways in which climate effects the yin and the yang. Acupuncture, as I know understand, comes in to play in Chinese Medicine when the yin and yang are out of balance and the blood’s pathways must be “unblocked”. 

            Kelly mentioned that many people come to see him or other Chinese Medicine professionals mainly to prevent illness. If everything stays in balance then there is a much lower risk of becoming ill.

            “Three Jiaos or Three Burners. This is an organ system not recognized by Western philosophy…The relative health of this organ system is detected especially via pule diagnosis”

-Educational Opportunities in Integrative Medicine (pg. 31)

This part of the text shows that the climate is very in tune with anything occurring with us. We correspond to the Earth and must acclimate ourselves to the environment to keep the yin and yang in balance. Chinese Medicine is all about the ways in which everything within the body is connected; mind, body, and soul. As Kelly had stated, “Law of Cure: one must let illness out, or it will only come back, there must be a release of things in the body.” I agree very much with his statement, one must let the bad out to feel truly good again; otherwise the illness or “cause” will only continue to reoccur within the body (this is why allopathic medicine has many people addicted to pain killers and other unnatural medicine to treat symptoms).  Overall I thought this topic was very interesting and I learned a lot about acupuncture that had never even crossed my mind.

            Brendan Kelly had brought up the mind-body connection and its importance. I think that the mind and body are two very separate things in today’s allopathic medicine world when they should be looked at as one thing. The mind and body have, in my opinion, the strongest relationship in the human body on this Earth. If we do not believe we are going to heal, how can we? The mind is such a powerful thing and it is necessary in the healing process, and a positive mindset is much more stronger than a negative outlook. All you must do is believe you can heal in order to begin the healing process. By integrating the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the human body we can connect the mind and body.

Massage and the Power of Human Touch

I am very excited to explore the topic of massage therapy after declaring it as my career choice in the WAM program. I loved that this presentation was hands on, and that Andrea Altman discussed various techniques for massage. I first became interested in massage therapy and the Wellness program here at Johnson after my dad began getting ill years ago with fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, and many other things. Alternative medicine has always been intriguing to me after many of my father’s surgeries and medications did not seem to help him come back to a balanced state within his body.

            Altman went over Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, reflexology, and lymphatic drainage. It’s exciting to know how many different techniques there are within massage, giving a lot of versatility.

“Massage can relieve tension in your muscles, and most people use it for relaxation, relief of stress and anxiety, or to reduce muscle soreness. Massage can also cause your body to release natural painkillers, and it may boost your immune system.” (page 131, Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine)

I think that it is really neat how powerful the touch of healing is in massage therapy. The fact that our bodies have the ability to “release natural painkillers” is amazing. More people should rely on the nature of our bodies in receiving pain relief than to seek quick results from an allopathic doctor that can produce terrible side effects. Alternative medicine, such as massage therapy, is the key to taking down the pharmaceutical companies that are not actually healing- and are rather destroying our beautiful bodies.

            The power of touch between two humans can be incredibly healing, intense, and comforting all at the same time. Many times in North American culture, touch is looked upon as a shameful act and everything is over sensualized. Humans were created with hands, so we might as well put them to use in a positive way. Through modalities such as massage therapy and Reiki humans are able to heal each other using the power of touch. If we know that healing can be achieved this way, we should be more patient in our healing processes rather than suppressing our pain with pharmaceuticals. Pills can only suppress pain and illness for so long, and it will only return at some point in our lifetime. Massage therapy and Reiki may take longer to show healing affects but the pain and suffering is much less likely to reoccur. So why don’t we get away from the pill-popping culture and heal each other in the most natural way we can? With our hands.

The Sound of Music

Linda Schneck came to present the healing sounds of the harp in one of my college classes recently. I think sound is a very powerful source for healing. If I am ever stressed out or even when I am in a fantastic mood, I use the sound of music to express it. Music and sound can be therapeutic and allow emotions to flow in or out of the body as they must. Schneck had mentioned how she plays to the breath of some of her clients, allowing their breathing to dictate the sound she will play on her harp. Here relaxation and solitude can be discovered.

            “Music can influence both physical and mental health.” (Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine, page 109) In this book it also describes how music therapy can treat things such as; autism, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and it can also reduce stress and encourage relaxation. Schneck’s playing of the harp was beautiful, and I can see how it could help those seeking music therapy; I also think that there are many different forms of music therapy (as Schneck had mentioned). People enjoy many different genres of music, they also may find it more therapeutic to play music themselves. Linda’s description of the “magic” that the notes make after she strikes the strings was beautiful. The harp was very relaxing to listen to, so relaxing that I almost fell asleep. So I can see that she would be very helpful to her clients with her talent. I seek music therapy every day listening to my favorite bands, such as The Beatles, but music can be very different when played in the same room rather than off an iPod or a CD.  

            Music surround us each and every day, whether is be from wind chimes, to a hum, to a band, or to our stereo. We cannot be ignorant and ignore the fact that music can significantly change our moods and heal us. In many countries, music is used in ceremonies and it is a way to connect with people around us. Music has been my savior many times and to know that it does in fact have healing vibrations is just another perk. Time to go listen to some music!