I have been busy and the things I have wanted to FIF about just keeps on growing so without further ado todays topic circumcision.
Here's the background: Just about 8 years ago I found out I was pregnant. I went to the OBGYN, while I was being weighed and blood pressure taken I was asked a series of questions. Questions that I now wonder why they were asking me at 11 weeks pregnant, but asked non the less. Questions one, do you want and epidural when you are in labor, answer; yes. Question two, if it is a boy do you want to circumsize him, answer a little more hesitantly, yes. Reason for the hesitation I hadn't discussed this with Danny, and I actually didn't know if religiously I needed to. All the little boys I had ever babysat where circumsized, Danny was, all my brothers were, but no one from church had ever laid out doctrine to me stating that we needed to do this. At the time I stuck with my yes, went home and asked Danny and he looked at me like duh, of course we will. Fast forward 9 weeks, we found out we were having twin girls and the subject wasn't revisited. A few years later I was pregnant again, with a girl, the answer was the same at the OB life goes on.
Then we moved to GA, were a lot changed for us, I got pregnant we decided not to find out what we were having. BUT this time I wanted to know why we should circumsize, if in fact we were supposed to, and I wanted to make sure I was doing what I felt right in my heart. So I researched, and read, and talked with people, and asked others why they did what they did. We had a boy 2 years ago, and he is intact.
Generally at this point in my post I copy and paste my relevant article, but because the article I have selected uses correct terminology, I would like to avoid crazy google hits to my blog, please click the link read the article and come back and finish my post :) CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE
My argument for circumsision: I have none.
My argument against circumsision: The article referenced above states that it is more painful and more difficult to recover from if done as an adult. I would argue that if a grown man feels pain when cut, a small fresh infant is going to feel the exact same pain when cut, he just can't vocalize it as well. If there is no commandment from God to circumsize than there is no reason to remove something on a boys body, I don't think the foreskin was placed there by "accident". Also to answer this I would like to share what the last two years have been like with an intact boy. It has been just the same as a parents experience with a circumsized boy. Wait a few differences I have noticed, not once did Nathan pee on me during a diaper change. And I didn't have to care for a fresh wound on my newborn. The foreskin doesn't retract until puberty so hygene has been a non issue, one is not cleaner than the other. Nathan hasn't asked, and I don't think he will ask why his dad and him don't look the same. On a side note, Danny's dad being born in Germany, is intact this never caused concern for Danny.
These are the two most common arguments I have heard as to why people have chosen to circ their son. It is my job to teach my son hygene, and good self esteem. If someone were teasing him for being intact I would want to know what's up with the kid that is not only checking my sons "stuff" out but making this fact known by teasing him about it.
This is a question of truth versus tradition. Do you do it cause your parents did, or because of the truth and conviction you feel for the matter.
Link for LDS parents who want to know:ASK GRAMPS
MORONI 8:8
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
My Unassisted Homebirth
This is the whole story, with all the details. On my personal blog I did a little more editing as so much of this was a surprise to so many. If you find youself with questions or a desire for more information, let me know I am happy to answer any and all questions!
My UCI had a c-section for my third pregnancy and wasn’t happy about it, my baby boy had been breech for sometime but my midwife never “noticed” and claimed that he must have flipped right before I went into labor. My instincts had told me for some time that something was off, but because I was under the care of a professional I didn’t question what my intuition was telling me. When I found out I was pregnant again I new that I wanted something different from last time, and at first I thought that would be a natural childbirth in the hospital with the same midwife. I had done more research, and learned more about pregnancy and birth since my third pregnancy and had some definite plans about what I wanted for this pregnancy and delivery. I waited until I was 13 weeks to go to my first prenatal appointment as I knew that it wasn’t necessary to go before than. I told my midwife that I didn’t want blood work done, but accepted that as a formality of going with her. I lay down on the exam table and my midwife exclaimed how big I looked, and was sure that it might be twins. Had she had her ultrasound equipment in the room she would have proceeded to try to do an ultrasound, we would have battled as I didn’t want any ultrasounds this pregnancy. Fortunately she didn’t have the equipment, but proceeded to tell me that I would need an ultrasound at 16 weeks I told her at this point that I didn’t want any ultrasounds, and she told me that I HAD to have one at 20 weeks. I was starting to feel helpless at this point, I was intimidated, and although I knew what I wanted I was having a hard time standing up for myself. Danny was a little taken aback, as he knew what I wanted as well, and was surprised that I wasn’t standing up for myself. After the visit on the car ride home I asked Danny what he thought, “It was awful, I hated it.” I wasn’t expecting that, but was relieved to know that I wasn’t the only one who was not happy with the visit. He then said ‘let’s do it at home”, I said “okay, should I call the homebirth midwife I had read about?” He said “no let’s just do it ourselves.” I agreed and said “okay”, his surprised reply was “It’s not illegal?” I said “nope.” The decision was made, and I never looked back. I knew that I didn’t need any “traditional prenatal care.” I know that I am ultimately responsible for my health and wellbeing and while pregnant I am guardian over my baby as well. I didn’t need a midwife or OBGYN telling me that I was okay, or that something was wrong. I would know well before them if something was off, and at that point I would get the type of care that I needed. I was in charge of my nutrition, exercise, and thoughts through my pregnancy. This was my fourth pregnancy, and the best of them all. I was more in tune with my body, more aware of my body, and more relaxed. It was a good day when I realized that this goodness came from me knowing these things myself. In the past I remember anxiously waiting for that monthly doctors appointment to be told that things were okay. I didn’t have to wait this time, I knew daily that I was okay. Upon finding out our plans to UC my mother asked point blank “What makes you think you know more than a midwife or OB about pregnancy and childbirth?” I replied, “Nothing, I don’t think I know more than them about it, HOWEVER, I do know more about my own body during pregnancy and that is what matters.” After the decision to UC I become a researcher of all things natural and childbirth. This is in my nature, and became a passion for several months early on. After feeling like I had acquired an adequate amount of knowledge I made myself stop looking. I knew that in order for this to go the best for me I had to rely on my faith in my Heavenly Father, myself, and my husband. Again this added to the enjoyment of the pregnancy. I learned to trust more than I had before, I learned to pray and listen and to quietly meditate.I loved getting all of the birthing supplies together, and am glad I took my time doing it. What started out as a really long list of things turned in to just a few. I knew that I wanted a water birth and so I got a birthing pool. I knew that I would want some of the blue “chux” pads to sit on or lay on. I started out with a list of several herbal remedies that was narrowed down to two, shepards purse and afterease tincture. I haven’t used either. A friend from church offered a homebirthing kit she had purchased and never used from there we got the umbilical cord clamps. To cut the cord I planned on using my hair scissors. To fill the pool I was going to buy a hose to hook to the kitchen sink but my Herculean husband was willing to carry 5 gallon buckets from the bathroom to the pool. We had a closet full of towels, and was reassured by other UCers that hydrogen peroxide would take any blood out (it does.) I got my receiving blankets ready for the baby, a hat, diaper, and some onsies, knowing that a baby really only needs something to help keep it warm, and a something to suck (breast) after birth. Once getting this all together the game was waiting. I never told anyone a specific due date, as babies come “due” when they are ready. I was aware of about where things were at, and going off of previous pregnancies I thought I would go into labor. As that day came and went, and then that week past on I started to feel the effects of being pregnant. My body got larger, my movements slower, the desire for donuts stronger, and the fatigue of the last 9 months started to catch up to me. I did stay focused on my belief that this baby would come when it was good and ready, I didn’t get to be the boss this time, I got to trust. On February 16 I had the distinct feeling in the evening that this baby would be arriving in the next 24 hours. Being an optimist I thought for sure that a few hours after that I would be in labor. I woke up the next morning pregnant but still had the “feeling”. I spent the day doing things as if I were going into labor soon. I let things slide with the kids, I skipped my Tuesday swim, I had Doritos and donuts for lunch, and when we cleaned up for the night I went into overdrive. I told Danny that he needed to have his phone with him, and needed to check in with me. At about 7:30 I started having contractions, nothing regular, or to intense, but enough to know that things were starting to move. I knew this was the case when I didn’t tell anyone what was going on. Danny got home from school and we watched American Idol and the Biggest Loser. We got into bed about 11:30 and I was still having contractions about 7 minutes apart, but again not enough for me to say anything to anyone. Shortly after getting into bed we were joined by Annika, and Nathan, just as we were all settled in my water broke! This is the second time this has happened, and I love it! I told Danny and for a minute he just lay there. I told him I needed a towel so I could get up, and avoid getting to much fluid on the bed. We got up, put Annika into her bed and starting to get things together. This was very easy, it consisted of moving a small box of supplies from our room to the “birthing arena” as my husband called it. My first two labors were 4 hours start to finish so I thought this would be the same. After a few hours Danny started to fill up the pool and I got in. I will never labor anywhere else again! It was so nice to be in the warm water, and while I think this contributed to my labor lasting a little longer it was okay with me. Every hour I would get up and go to the bathroom and knew that if I wanted things to get moving I would probably have to spend some time out of the pool. At one point I thought I needed to know what was going on so I tried to “check” myself. I didn’t know what I was looking for and was only able to confirm that the baby was in fact head down. After doing this a few times I realized it was futile and needed to stop. At this time I started to feel like I was going to be in labor forever and that things weren’t progressing. Danny found a homeopathic remedy for me (arnica) and while I denied that I needed it he gave it to me, and I am glad that he did. Within a few minutes of taking the arnica I had a new found resolve and trust in my body. I knew that I wouldn’t be in labor forever, but if it lasted 24 hours then that is what needed to happen. I knew I needed to get out of the water, this was at 8 am. I told myself that I would have this baby at 10 am. The time went by so quickly, I think my contractions got a little closer together, and their intensity increased. I went from silent breathing to low oooos. At 10 am I wasn’t ready to push but I was ready to get back into the water, I think in my subconscious mind I needed my other children away for the actual delivery to happen. I was so grateful that our friend Rudi was here, and that is was Wednesday. Annika has a tumbling class at the YMCA on Wednesday and so Rudi and the four kids gathered up and left at about 10:30. Once they were gone things started to move, I was concerned about pushing to soon and wanted to make sure that it was my body telling me to push and not my desire to be done. After trying to hold back through one contraction I knew that it was time. Danny knew this as well as the deep ooooos started to end in what he called opera singing. The pushing sensation all but overcame my body and I knew it was time. I pushed and thought I wasn’t getting anywhere until I felt the aptly named “ring of fire”. Since I had never felt this before it scared me a little and I thought for sure I was ripping in half. Luckily I knew that this was the time to slow it down and let things stretch. After a second push and feeling things move, everything seemed to stop. Time stood still for just a moment, every pain from the contraction and stretching was gone, it was as if I could get up and walk away from the whole thing. Then the next contraction hit and my babies head was born. I was on my hands and knees in the pool and was so happy to have Danny behind me to reassure me that he could see our baby’s eyes and nose and forehead, it was exactly what I needed to get me through the next big push. He checked to make sure there was no cord around the neck, but other than that he kept his hands off until after our baby was delivered. Once out he gently guided the baby from behind me, and I scooped her up and felt euphoria like I never had before. I couldn’t believe that I had done it, the feeling was so overwhelming and the beauty of the moment is one that can’t be put into words. I was leaned up against the side of the pool clutching my baby and was so grateful to know that I didn’t have to let her go until I was good and ready. Danny embraced me from behind, and we shared a moment of pure joy. About a minute after this our friend who was going to video the birth for us walked in the door. He was a bit shocked at the scene he saw as I was the first thing you saw from the front door but he came in and quickly took over the camera duties. After a little bit Danny finally asked me if I was going to look and see what the baby was, it was a girl. I knew all along that would be the case, had she been a boy I probably would have dropped him in the pool! About 20 minutes after she was born I was ready to get out of the pool, and ready to get things moving with the placenta, I didn’t feel like I could nurse her very well in the pool, we checked to see if the cord had stopped pulsing, it had so we cut the cord and we got out of the pool. We moved over to the couch and I put her to my breast, she wasn’t interested in nursing but the close contact got the contractions moving to get the placenta out. About 45 minutes after her birth I felt like I should stand a little to get gravity on our side, I hadn’t rushed anything with the delivery of the baby, but I was more than a little anxious to deliver the placenta. I stood a little and pushed and gently pulled on the cord just to see if anything was moving. The first time I tried this nothing happened so I left it alone a few minutes later I tried again and felt the cord move so I pushed a little harder and delivered the placenta. I had never felt this part of the process before, and in the moment I felt more relief from this than delivering the baby. My other four children arrived home shortly after that and things got a little whirlwind after that. They were so excited to see their baby sister, Annika was so happy that she could in fact call the baby rainbow girl. In a flurry of activity I held the baby and shared her with the other kids, Danny inspected and cut up the placenta and I finally remembered how hungry I was. Through the entire labor I remember how hungry I was but I refused to eat because of the nausea I felt every time I thought about eating. After a piece of toast and some vitamin water I started to feel very light headed. I hadn’t torn at all when I delivered the baby, and my bleeding was minimal after delivering the placenta. Just to make sure things were okay Danny took my blood pressure and that was fine, I think it was just a combination of exhaustion, low blood sugar, and a drop from the adrenaline rush. Because I knew that it would help I asked for a piece of placenta, Danny dropped it on my tongue and I swallowed it down, and surprised myself when I asked for another piece. Arrangements were quickly made for the girls to go spend the afternoon with Chris and Rudi, and Nathan was put down for a nap. At this point we weighed and measured and decided on the name. I liked the middle name Joy or Noel, but Danny wasn’t sold, after a few minutes he said what about Rose. At first I thought Rose? But after saying her full name in my head a few times I knew that was it. Her name is Katelyn Rose Hansen, she weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. A little side note that makes the name even more special is Danny’s older brother, who died several years ago, when he and his girlfriend where expecting had chosen the name Katelyn spelled the exact same way me and Danny decided upon, we didn’t know this until after Danny had talked to his mom and told her the name. I knew the name was special, because it means pure, and that is what I felt about this whole experience. I also know that the angels where there to help guide and protect me through the experience. And I know that Katelyn knew her uncle Michael before she joined us. My recovery has been the best I have had, the joy and gratitude I feel in my heart has increased ten fold. I know that it was through my previous labors and deliveries I was led to UC, and I wouldn’t change a single one of them. They are all special to me, I learned and grew from each of them and they all had an impact on my decision to UC. The greatest difference to me with my UC was the amount it increased my spirituality. My faith is deeper and stronger, my love for my husband has increased and my gratitude and testimony of eternal families has only strengthened. The joy I feel when I look at all five of my children causes me to rejoice. I know that each and every one of them is a gift from God. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and watches over me. I know that when I pray I will receive an answer and that he is guiding me and helping me with the Holy Ghost, and the people that have been put into my life. Although I felt pain like I had never felt before during the height of my delivery, I have since experienced joy like I have never felt before. Because of the deeper ability to feel joy and love I wouldn’t change a single contraction, or discomfort that I experienced during my pregnancy, labor, or delivery. We are only able to feel joy to the extent that we have felt pain, making the entire journey, the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional journey worth every second.
My UCI had a c-section for my third pregnancy and wasn’t happy about it, my baby boy had been breech for sometime but my midwife never “noticed” and claimed that he must have flipped right before I went into labor. My instincts had told me for some time that something was off, but because I was under the care of a professional I didn’t question what my intuition was telling me. When I found out I was pregnant again I new that I wanted something different from last time, and at first I thought that would be a natural childbirth in the hospital with the same midwife. I had done more research, and learned more about pregnancy and birth since my third pregnancy and had some definite plans about what I wanted for this pregnancy and delivery. I waited until I was 13 weeks to go to my first prenatal appointment as I knew that it wasn’t necessary to go before than. I told my midwife that I didn’t want blood work done, but accepted that as a formality of going with her. I lay down on the exam table and my midwife exclaimed how big I looked, and was sure that it might be twins. Had she had her ultrasound equipment in the room she would have proceeded to try to do an ultrasound, we would have battled as I didn’t want any ultrasounds this pregnancy. Fortunately she didn’t have the equipment, but proceeded to tell me that I would need an ultrasound at 16 weeks I told her at this point that I didn’t want any ultrasounds, and she told me that I HAD to have one at 20 weeks. I was starting to feel helpless at this point, I was intimidated, and although I knew what I wanted I was having a hard time standing up for myself. Danny was a little taken aback, as he knew what I wanted as well, and was surprised that I wasn’t standing up for myself. After the visit on the car ride home I asked Danny what he thought, “It was awful, I hated it.” I wasn’t expecting that, but was relieved to know that I wasn’t the only one who was not happy with the visit. He then said ‘let’s do it at home”, I said “okay, should I call the homebirth midwife I had read about?” He said “no let’s just do it ourselves.” I agreed and said “okay”, his surprised reply was “It’s not illegal?” I said “nope.” The decision was made, and I never looked back. I knew that I didn’t need any “traditional prenatal care.” I know that I am ultimately responsible for my health and wellbeing and while pregnant I am guardian over my baby as well. I didn’t need a midwife or OBGYN telling me that I was okay, or that something was wrong. I would know well before them if something was off, and at that point I would get the type of care that I needed. I was in charge of my nutrition, exercise, and thoughts through my pregnancy. This was my fourth pregnancy, and the best of them all. I was more in tune with my body, more aware of my body, and more relaxed. It was a good day when I realized that this goodness came from me knowing these things myself. In the past I remember anxiously waiting for that monthly doctors appointment to be told that things were okay. I didn’t have to wait this time, I knew daily that I was okay. Upon finding out our plans to UC my mother asked point blank “What makes you think you know more than a midwife or OB about pregnancy and childbirth?” I replied, “Nothing, I don’t think I know more than them about it, HOWEVER, I do know more about my own body during pregnancy and that is what matters.” After the decision to UC I become a researcher of all things natural and childbirth. This is in my nature, and became a passion for several months early on. After feeling like I had acquired an adequate amount of knowledge I made myself stop looking. I knew that in order for this to go the best for me I had to rely on my faith in my Heavenly Father, myself, and my husband. Again this added to the enjoyment of the pregnancy. I learned to trust more than I had before, I learned to pray and listen and to quietly meditate.I loved getting all of the birthing supplies together, and am glad I took my time doing it. What started out as a really long list of things turned in to just a few. I knew that I wanted a water birth and so I got a birthing pool. I knew that I would want some of the blue “chux” pads to sit on or lay on. I started out with a list of several herbal remedies that was narrowed down to two, shepards purse and afterease tincture. I haven’t used either. A friend from church offered a homebirthing kit she had purchased and never used from there we got the umbilical cord clamps. To cut the cord I planned on using my hair scissors. To fill the pool I was going to buy a hose to hook to the kitchen sink but my Herculean husband was willing to carry 5 gallon buckets from the bathroom to the pool. We had a closet full of towels, and was reassured by other UCers that hydrogen peroxide would take any blood out (it does.) I got my receiving blankets ready for the baby, a hat, diaper, and some onsies, knowing that a baby really only needs something to help keep it warm, and a something to suck (breast) after birth. Once getting this all together the game was waiting. I never told anyone a specific due date, as babies come “due” when they are ready. I was aware of about where things were at, and going off of previous pregnancies I thought I would go into labor. As that day came and went, and then that week past on I started to feel the effects of being pregnant. My body got larger, my movements slower, the desire for donuts stronger, and the fatigue of the last 9 months started to catch up to me. I did stay focused on my belief that this baby would come when it was good and ready, I didn’t get to be the boss this time, I got to trust. On February 16 I had the distinct feeling in the evening that this baby would be arriving in the next 24 hours. Being an optimist I thought for sure that a few hours after that I would be in labor. I woke up the next morning pregnant but still had the “feeling”. I spent the day doing things as if I were going into labor soon. I let things slide with the kids, I skipped my Tuesday swim, I had Doritos and donuts for lunch, and when we cleaned up for the night I went into overdrive. I told Danny that he needed to have his phone with him, and needed to check in with me. At about 7:30 I started having contractions, nothing regular, or to intense, but enough to know that things were starting to move. I knew this was the case when I didn’t tell anyone what was going on. Danny got home from school and we watched American Idol and the Biggest Loser. We got into bed about 11:30 and I was still having contractions about 7 minutes apart, but again not enough for me to say anything to anyone. Shortly after getting into bed we were joined by Annika, and Nathan, just as we were all settled in my water broke! This is the second time this has happened, and I love it! I told Danny and for a minute he just lay there. I told him I needed a towel so I could get up, and avoid getting to much fluid on the bed. We got up, put Annika into her bed and starting to get things together. This was very easy, it consisted of moving a small box of supplies from our room to the “birthing arena” as my husband called it. My first two labors were 4 hours start to finish so I thought this would be the same. After a few hours Danny started to fill up the pool and I got in. I will never labor anywhere else again! It was so nice to be in the warm water, and while I think this contributed to my labor lasting a little longer it was okay with me. Every hour I would get up and go to the bathroom and knew that if I wanted things to get moving I would probably have to spend some time out of the pool. At one point I thought I needed to know what was going on so I tried to “check” myself. I didn’t know what I was looking for and was only able to confirm that the baby was in fact head down. After doing this a few times I realized it was futile and needed to stop. At this time I started to feel like I was going to be in labor forever and that things weren’t progressing. Danny found a homeopathic remedy for me (arnica) and while I denied that I needed it he gave it to me, and I am glad that he did. Within a few minutes of taking the arnica I had a new found resolve and trust in my body. I knew that I wouldn’t be in labor forever, but if it lasted 24 hours then that is what needed to happen. I knew I needed to get out of the water, this was at 8 am. I told myself that I would have this baby at 10 am. The time went by so quickly, I think my contractions got a little closer together, and their intensity increased. I went from silent breathing to low oooos. At 10 am I wasn’t ready to push but I was ready to get back into the water, I think in my subconscious mind I needed my other children away for the actual delivery to happen. I was so grateful that our friend Rudi was here, and that is was Wednesday. Annika has a tumbling class at the YMCA on Wednesday and so Rudi and the four kids gathered up and left at about 10:30. Once they were gone things started to move, I was concerned about pushing to soon and wanted to make sure that it was my body telling me to push and not my desire to be done. After trying to hold back through one contraction I knew that it was time. Danny knew this as well as the deep ooooos started to end in what he called opera singing. The pushing sensation all but overcame my body and I knew it was time. I pushed and thought I wasn’t getting anywhere until I felt the aptly named “ring of fire”. Since I had never felt this before it scared me a little and I thought for sure I was ripping in half. Luckily I knew that this was the time to slow it down and let things stretch. After a second push and feeling things move, everything seemed to stop. Time stood still for just a moment, every pain from the contraction and stretching was gone, it was as if I could get up and walk away from the whole thing. Then the next contraction hit and my babies head was born. I was on my hands and knees in the pool and was so happy to have Danny behind me to reassure me that he could see our baby’s eyes and nose and forehead, it was exactly what I needed to get me through the next big push. He checked to make sure there was no cord around the neck, but other than that he kept his hands off until after our baby was delivered. Once out he gently guided the baby from behind me, and I scooped her up and felt euphoria like I never had before. I couldn’t believe that I had done it, the feeling was so overwhelming and the beauty of the moment is one that can’t be put into words. I was leaned up against the side of the pool clutching my baby and was so grateful to know that I didn’t have to let her go until I was good and ready. Danny embraced me from behind, and we shared a moment of pure joy. About a minute after this our friend who was going to video the birth for us walked in the door. He was a bit shocked at the scene he saw as I was the first thing you saw from the front door but he came in and quickly took over the camera duties. After a little bit Danny finally asked me if I was going to look and see what the baby was, it was a girl. I knew all along that would be the case, had she been a boy I probably would have dropped him in the pool! About 20 minutes after she was born I was ready to get out of the pool, and ready to get things moving with the placenta, I didn’t feel like I could nurse her very well in the pool, we checked to see if the cord had stopped pulsing, it had so we cut the cord and we got out of the pool. We moved over to the couch and I put her to my breast, she wasn’t interested in nursing but the close contact got the contractions moving to get the placenta out. About 45 minutes after her birth I felt like I should stand a little to get gravity on our side, I hadn’t rushed anything with the delivery of the baby, but I was more than a little anxious to deliver the placenta. I stood a little and pushed and gently pulled on the cord just to see if anything was moving. The first time I tried this nothing happened so I left it alone a few minutes later I tried again and felt the cord move so I pushed a little harder and delivered the placenta. I had never felt this part of the process before, and in the moment I felt more relief from this than delivering the baby. My other four children arrived home shortly after that and things got a little whirlwind after that. They were so excited to see their baby sister, Annika was so happy that she could in fact call the baby rainbow girl. In a flurry of activity I held the baby and shared her with the other kids, Danny inspected and cut up the placenta and I finally remembered how hungry I was. Through the entire labor I remember how hungry I was but I refused to eat because of the nausea I felt every time I thought about eating. After a piece of toast and some vitamin water I started to feel very light headed. I hadn’t torn at all when I delivered the baby, and my bleeding was minimal after delivering the placenta. Just to make sure things were okay Danny took my blood pressure and that was fine, I think it was just a combination of exhaustion, low blood sugar, and a drop from the adrenaline rush. Because I knew that it would help I asked for a piece of placenta, Danny dropped it on my tongue and I swallowed it down, and surprised myself when I asked for another piece. Arrangements were quickly made for the girls to go spend the afternoon with Chris and Rudi, and Nathan was put down for a nap. At this point we weighed and measured and decided on the name. I liked the middle name Joy or Noel, but Danny wasn’t sold, after a few minutes he said what about Rose. At first I thought Rose? But after saying her full name in my head a few times I knew that was it. Her name is Katelyn Rose Hansen, she weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. A little side note that makes the name even more special is Danny’s older brother, who died several years ago, when he and his girlfriend where expecting had chosen the name Katelyn spelled the exact same way me and Danny decided upon, we didn’t know this until after Danny had talked to his mom and told her the name. I knew the name was special, because it means pure, and that is what I felt about this whole experience. I also know that the angels where there to help guide and protect me through the experience. And I know that Katelyn knew her uncle Michael before she joined us. My recovery has been the best I have had, the joy and gratitude I feel in my heart has increased ten fold. I know that it was through my previous labors and deliveries I was led to UC, and I wouldn’t change a single one of them. They are all special to me, I learned and grew from each of them and they all had an impact on my decision to UC. The greatest difference to me with my UC was the amount it increased my spirituality. My faith is deeper and stronger, my love for my husband has increased and my gratitude and testimony of eternal families has only strengthened. The joy I feel when I look at all five of my children causes me to rejoice. I know that each and every one of them is a gift from God. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and watches over me. I know that when I pray I will receive an answer and that he is guiding me and helping me with the Holy Ghost, and the people that have been put into my life. Although I felt pain like I had never felt before during the height of my delivery, I have since experienced joy like I have never felt before. Because of the deeper ability to feel joy and love I wouldn’t change a single contraction, or discomfort that I experienced during my pregnancy, labor, or delivery. We are only able to feel joy to the extent that we have felt pain, making the entire journey, the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional journey worth every second.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Holistic Approach to Ear Infections
It is amazing to me that some children suffer bout after bout of ear "infection". With all of my children this hasn't been the case, with Nathan at 18 months old he can put a check in the NO column after ear infection. I think to many of us (I was one of them so I can say this without being judgemental) rush to the doctor at the first sign of tugging at the ear, fever and possible ear problem, or one that I wasn't a victim of, having the doctor tell you your perfectly happy child has an infection because at a well child visit the ears were examined and appeared to be red. I am not saying everyone should adopt my philosophy, however get educated so the next time your doctor says it's an infection and wants to prescribe antibiotics you can as the pertinent questions; 1. How do you know it is bacterial (the only type antibiotics will work on) vs. viral. 2. Is it just red, is there fluid? 3. And the ringer questions: According to the AAP it is suggested the antibiotics NOT be used until 48 hours after the intial diagnosis, what are your feelings on this?
This isn't about making everyone holistic it is encouraging everyone to become the boss, advocate, and decision maker in your child's health. Without knowing about ear infections it would be hard to double check what the doctor is telling your. The following article is written by an M.D.
Holistic Approach to Ear Infections
by Lawrence P. Palvesky, M.D., F.A.A.P., A.B.H.M.Jan-Feb 2003 It is 3am and your child wakes up complaining of ear pain. What can you do? Ear pain is one of the most common complaints in the pediatric population. Parents exchange frequent stories about the number of times their child has taken a banana or cherry flavored antibiotic for one or more ear infections. It is the rare parent who sits by, not wanting to add to the anxiety of other parents, with the knowledge that their child has never taken an antibiotic for an ear ache. What's more, the child has never had a serious problem resulting from not using antibiotics.When I went through my medical school and residency training, we were warned about the serious complications of allowing an ear infection to progress without antibiotic treatment-mastoiditis, an inflammation and infection of the bony area behind the ear at the base of the skull, and meningitis, an inflammation and infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord which could lead to permanent brain damage, not to mention, the possibility of permanent hearing loss. Over the last 13 years, evidence from the European medical literature and observation of the medical practice of some of our own pioneering primary care providers and ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) physicians, has taught us that the majority of cases of ear pain can and will resolve on their own. Without antibiotics. Without serious outcomes. With good clinical follow-up. Yet, many children receive antibiotics, and sometimes multiple antibiotics, for ear aches. And their ear aches continue to recur. Are Ear Aches Really Ear Infections? Inflammation occurs in the body as characterized by the following five observations--redness, swelling, heat, pain and loss of function. When a young child has an ear ache, the ear drum is usually found to be red (redness) with clear fluid or mucus buildup in the middle ear (swelling) causing pain, often accompanied by fever (heat) and occasionally accompanied by an acute loss of hearing; clearly a description of inflammation. Even if there were an infection, most studies confirm that viruses are the main organisms responsible for causing the development of these symptoms, not bacteria. Neither a viral infection, nor an inflammation in the ears responds to treatment with antibiotics. Only bacteria respond to antibiotic treatment. Therefore, in the majority of cases, antibiotics do not help. And, in many cases, antibiotics may cause more harm than good when they are used inappropriately.A child is found on exam to have a red ear and no complaint of ear pain even though a fever is present. A pre-verbal infant or toddler with a red ear drum or fluid behind the ear appears well and is smiling. Another child presents with ear fluid and is no longer in pain. Most often these children are not suffering from ear infections and do not warrant antibiotic treatment. By definition, these children simply have inflamed ears which often respond better to other types of treatment. Children who have infections, on the other hand, also present with these five signs of inflammation but, for the most part, do not look clinically well and often have an illness that is more serious than a simple ear infection. A child in pain who appears not to look well should be re-evaluated after the pain is relieved. Early in my pediatric practice, I often gave a child a ten day course of an antibiotic for what I believed was a classic ear infection using the criteria I described for inflammation. More often than not, 2-3 days after completing the antibiotic, the child returned with the same symptoms. I would subsequently write another antibiotic prescription. Frequently, the same pattern would recur. Conventional training taught me that the child had an infection caused by a bacterium that was resistant to the antibiotic. Therefore, a different and stronger antibiotic was needed. Eventually it occurred to me that perhaps the child never needed the antibiotic in the first place. Perhaps there was a different process going on that required a different set of treatments and understanding. Why do infants & children get ear aches? How do the ears become inflamed?Conventional pediatric practice focuses on prescribing treatment interventions once a child's symptoms have already appeared. Non-conventional approaches concentrate on preventing the development of inflammation and infection and attempt to evaluate the causes that contribute to their presentation. In addition, non-conventional approaches use remedies and interventions that facilitate the body's natural healing abilities in a nourishing way in an attempt to avoid suppressing the inherent healing mechanisms that are present in the body. Often, elimination of the factors that are known to contribute to the development of the underlying symptoms is sufficient to treat the problem(s) without introducing additional remedies. This is especially true when it comes to ear pain and ear inflammation. Infants and children have a natural tendency to generate a lot of mucus. The production and the amount of mucus lessen as the child grows older and the developing immune system strengthens. When a child has a build up of excess mucus (one of the primary indicators of inflammation), his/her body attempts to "burn off" this mucus in order to return to a balanced state, also known as homeostasis. This is accomplished by the onset of an illness accompanied by a fever. Children, even without the presence of a fever, tend to run on the hot side. Most of their heat rises towards the head. Heat generated by a fever (another of the primary indicators of inflammation), further raises the energy towards the head. With an abundance of mucus already present in the nose and throat during an upper respiratory infection it is no coincidence that the ears repeatedly become inflamed.Many clinicians and parents report that after a child has recovered from an illness with a fever without the use of suppressive pharmaceuticals, he/she experiences a growth spurt in neurological, developmental and behavioral milestones. Clearly, the immune system is now stronger. Children, who develop excess mucus and need to burn it off through an array of normal childhood febrile illnesses, and are blocked from accomplishing this through the use of inappropriate, suppressive pharmaceutical treatments, often remain in a state of chronic mucus production, i.e., chronic inflammation. This can be seen today in many of our children who live with excess mucus, are often sick and never quite fully recover and have a life of chronic illnesses and delays in reaching their milestones. Prevention & TreatmentUltimately, the goal is to reduce the production of excess mucus, support the process of acute illnesses with good clinical follow-up and safe and effective, non-suppressive, supportive interventions and offer information for families that will both prevent and treat serious acute and chronic illnesses. In the case of ear inflammation, the two approaches that I have seen work most effectively to reduce ear fluid, ear pain and chronic ear problems is a change in the child's and family's diet and the incorporation of manipulative modalities into the treatment plan, i.e., chiropractic, osteopathic and/or cranial sacral therapy.Children have undeveloped digestive systems. Spitting up, vomiting, frequent burping, excess gas and loose stools are frequent pediatric complaints indicative of poor digestive function. Often, children are given a food or a combination of foods that serve to further weaken and stress their digestive systems. Invariably, food is incompletely digested and, as a result, children are confronted with having to deal with nourishment that does not serve them. Consequently, the body's response is to produce additional mucusAs described in immunology, Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and nutritional medicine, mucus in the nose, throat, sinuses, airways, ears and other parts of the body can arise merely from the failure of the digestive system to accomplish its task successfully. Adults may suffer from the same process as well. Those foods most likely to increase mucus production and further stress a child's already weak digestive system are: dairy, soy (especially overly processed soy products), commercial formulas, a heavy diet of raw fruits and vegetables, iced or cold foods and beverages, wheat and most flour products, baby cereals and commercial cereals, thick, creamy and heavy foods, processed grains, juice, soda, soft drinks, refined sugars, processed and refined foods, fried foods and oils, multiple food choices at a time and overfeeding. Reducing and/or eliminating these foods from a child's diet will often quiet the inflammation and prevent the development of further problems in acute flare-ups and, more specifically, in chronic inflammation of the ears. On the other hand, offering a child warm, cooked, simple, smooth, easy to digest, whole, non-processed foods, accompanied by small amounts of food herbs and spices, will strengthen and support a weak digestive system and keep mucus production and inflammation at a minimum. Immediate ManagementSo, it is still 3am and your child's body is doing its best to purge the excess mucus. Yet, the fluid is not draining and the pain is the main focus. Ultimately, the goal is to rid the body of the mucus. The following is a list of suggestions for parents to help them get through this difficult situation:1) Hold and comfort your child.2) Try to raise the head of the bed. For smaller children, place blankets or pillows under the mattress.3) Keep your child hydrated with room temperature water, clear soup and/or tea. Herbs that help to break up the mucus and comfort your child include thyme, ginger, licorice, eyebright, elder flowers and chamomile. Keep the diet simple. Keep solid foods to a minimum. Offer small doses of vitamin C throughout the day with fluids. Start children's Echinacea within the first 24 hours of illness.4) Diffuse lavender essential oil in the room to help calm any anxiety you may have.5) Place several drops of mullein oil in a container and warm inside a pot of water on the stove. Take several drops of the mullein oil and place them in the affected ear canal. Gently pull and massage the ear lobe away from your child's head and in a slightly downward direction. Use extra virgin olive oil in the same manner if no mullein oil is available or, 6) Take 1-2 drops of organic tea tree essential oil and mix in a base of 20 drops of olive oil and place several warmed drops of this mixture into the affected ear canal. Use any one of the ear drop remedies several times a day to relieve the discomforts of the inflammation. Please be sure to use essential oils that are organic and top grade quality whenever possible.7) Use the tea tree oil combination and massage it into the front of your child's chest below the collarbones in a horizontal fashion. Then rub the oil behind the affected ear(s) and massage down the side of the neck towards the collarbones. This will help open the drainage of lymph fluid into the chest cavity and allow the congestion to drain from the head. This can be done 2-3 times per day until the congestion has resolved.8) See your chiropractor, osteopath or cranial sacral worker the next day. Repeat visits as discussed with your provider.9) Contact your medical health care provider if your child does not improve within 48 hours, develops drainage from the ear or appears to be getting worse.Dr. Lawrence B. Palevsky, MD is a board certified pediatrician who received his medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine. He completed a pediatric residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC and a one year fellowship at Bellevue Hospital-NYU School of Medicine in the outpatient department and emergency room. Dr. Palevsky's clinical experience includes pediatric emergency room and pediatric acute care medicine, in-patient and out-patient pediatric medicine, neonatal intensive care, newborn and delivery room medicine and private practice. Most recently he was in practice as the holistic and integrative pediatrician at the Center for Health & Healing, a complementary medical facility affiliated with the Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC. Dr. Palevsky is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine.
This isn't about making everyone holistic it is encouraging everyone to become the boss, advocate, and decision maker in your child's health. Without knowing about ear infections it would be hard to double check what the doctor is telling your. The following article is written by an M.D.
Holistic Approach to Ear Infections
by Lawrence P. Palvesky, M.D., F.A.A.P., A.B.H.M.Jan-Feb 2003 It is 3am and your child wakes up complaining of ear pain. What can you do? Ear pain is one of the most common complaints in the pediatric population. Parents exchange frequent stories about the number of times their child has taken a banana or cherry flavored antibiotic for one or more ear infections. It is the rare parent who sits by, not wanting to add to the anxiety of other parents, with the knowledge that their child has never taken an antibiotic for an ear ache. What's more, the child has never had a serious problem resulting from not using antibiotics.When I went through my medical school and residency training, we were warned about the serious complications of allowing an ear infection to progress without antibiotic treatment-mastoiditis, an inflammation and infection of the bony area behind the ear at the base of the skull, and meningitis, an inflammation and infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord which could lead to permanent brain damage, not to mention, the possibility of permanent hearing loss. Over the last 13 years, evidence from the European medical literature and observation of the medical practice of some of our own pioneering primary care providers and ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) physicians, has taught us that the majority of cases of ear pain can and will resolve on their own. Without antibiotics. Without serious outcomes. With good clinical follow-up. Yet, many children receive antibiotics, and sometimes multiple antibiotics, for ear aches. And their ear aches continue to recur. Are Ear Aches Really Ear Infections? Inflammation occurs in the body as characterized by the following five observations--redness, swelling, heat, pain and loss of function. When a young child has an ear ache, the ear drum is usually found to be red (redness) with clear fluid or mucus buildup in the middle ear (swelling) causing pain, often accompanied by fever (heat) and occasionally accompanied by an acute loss of hearing; clearly a description of inflammation. Even if there were an infection, most studies confirm that viruses are the main organisms responsible for causing the development of these symptoms, not bacteria. Neither a viral infection, nor an inflammation in the ears responds to treatment with antibiotics. Only bacteria respond to antibiotic treatment. Therefore, in the majority of cases, antibiotics do not help. And, in many cases, antibiotics may cause more harm than good when they are used inappropriately.A child is found on exam to have a red ear and no complaint of ear pain even though a fever is present. A pre-verbal infant or toddler with a red ear drum or fluid behind the ear appears well and is smiling. Another child presents with ear fluid and is no longer in pain. Most often these children are not suffering from ear infections and do not warrant antibiotic treatment. By definition, these children simply have inflamed ears which often respond better to other types of treatment. Children who have infections, on the other hand, also present with these five signs of inflammation but, for the most part, do not look clinically well and often have an illness that is more serious than a simple ear infection. A child in pain who appears not to look well should be re-evaluated after the pain is relieved. Early in my pediatric practice, I often gave a child a ten day course of an antibiotic for what I believed was a classic ear infection using the criteria I described for inflammation. More often than not, 2-3 days after completing the antibiotic, the child returned with the same symptoms. I would subsequently write another antibiotic prescription. Frequently, the same pattern would recur. Conventional training taught me that the child had an infection caused by a bacterium that was resistant to the antibiotic. Therefore, a different and stronger antibiotic was needed. Eventually it occurred to me that perhaps the child never needed the antibiotic in the first place. Perhaps there was a different process going on that required a different set of treatments and understanding. Why do infants & children get ear aches? How do the ears become inflamed?Conventional pediatric practice focuses on prescribing treatment interventions once a child's symptoms have already appeared. Non-conventional approaches concentrate on preventing the development of inflammation and infection and attempt to evaluate the causes that contribute to their presentation. In addition, non-conventional approaches use remedies and interventions that facilitate the body's natural healing abilities in a nourishing way in an attempt to avoid suppressing the inherent healing mechanisms that are present in the body. Often, elimination of the factors that are known to contribute to the development of the underlying symptoms is sufficient to treat the problem(s) without introducing additional remedies. This is especially true when it comes to ear pain and ear inflammation. Infants and children have a natural tendency to generate a lot of mucus. The production and the amount of mucus lessen as the child grows older and the developing immune system strengthens. When a child has a build up of excess mucus (one of the primary indicators of inflammation), his/her body attempts to "burn off" this mucus in order to return to a balanced state, also known as homeostasis. This is accomplished by the onset of an illness accompanied by a fever. Children, even without the presence of a fever, tend to run on the hot side. Most of their heat rises towards the head. Heat generated by a fever (another of the primary indicators of inflammation), further raises the energy towards the head. With an abundance of mucus already present in the nose and throat during an upper respiratory infection it is no coincidence that the ears repeatedly become inflamed.Many clinicians and parents report that after a child has recovered from an illness with a fever without the use of suppressive pharmaceuticals, he/she experiences a growth spurt in neurological, developmental and behavioral milestones. Clearly, the immune system is now stronger. Children, who develop excess mucus and need to burn it off through an array of normal childhood febrile illnesses, and are blocked from accomplishing this through the use of inappropriate, suppressive pharmaceutical treatments, often remain in a state of chronic mucus production, i.e., chronic inflammation. This can be seen today in many of our children who live with excess mucus, are often sick and never quite fully recover and have a life of chronic illnesses and delays in reaching their milestones. Prevention & TreatmentUltimately, the goal is to reduce the production of excess mucus, support the process of acute illnesses with good clinical follow-up and safe and effective, non-suppressive, supportive interventions and offer information for families that will both prevent and treat serious acute and chronic illnesses. In the case of ear inflammation, the two approaches that I have seen work most effectively to reduce ear fluid, ear pain and chronic ear problems is a change in the child's and family's diet and the incorporation of manipulative modalities into the treatment plan, i.e., chiropractic, osteopathic and/or cranial sacral therapy.Children have undeveloped digestive systems. Spitting up, vomiting, frequent burping, excess gas and loose stools are frequent pediatric complaints indicative of poor digestive function. Often, children are given a food or a combination of foods that serve to further weaken and stress their digestive systems. Invariably, food is incompletely digested and, as a result, children are confronted with having to deal with nourishment that does not serve them. Consequently, the body's response is to produce additional mucusAs described in immunology, Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and nutritional medicine, mucus in the nose, throat, sinuses, airways, ears and other parts of the body can arise merely from the failure of the digestive system to accomplish its task successfully. Adults may suffer from the same process as well. Those foods most likely to increase mucus production and further stress a child's already weak digestive system are: dairy, soy (especially overly processed soy products), commercial formulas, a heavy diet of raw fruits and vegetables, iced or cold foods and beverages, wheat and most flour products, baby cereals and commercial cereals, thick, creamy and heavy foods, processed grains, juice, soda, soft drinks, refined sugars, processed and refined foods, fried foods and oils, multiple food choices at a time and overfeeding. Reducing and/or eliminating these foods from a child's diet will often quiet the inflammation and prevent the development of further problems in acute flare-ups and, more specifically, in chronic inflammation of the ears. On the other hand, offering a child warm, cooked, simple, smooth, easy to digest, whole, non-processed foods, accompanied by small amounts of food herbs and spices, will strengthen and support a weak digestive system and keep mucus production and inflammation at a minimum. Immediate ManagementSo, it is still 3am and your child's body is doing its best to purge the excess mucus. Yet, the fluid is not draining and the pain is the main focus. Ultimately, the goal is to rid the body of the mucus. The following is a list of suggestions for parents to help them get through this difficult situation:1) Hold and comfort your child.2) Try to raise the head of the bed. For smaller children, place blankets or pillows under the mattress.3) Keep your child hydrated with room temperature water, clear soup and/or tea. Herbs that help to break up the mucus and comfort your child include thyme, ginger, licorice, eyebright, elder flowers and chamomile. Keep the diet simple. Keep solid foods to a minimum. Offer small doses of vitamin C throughout the day with fluids. Start children's Echinacea within the first 24 hours of illness.4) Diffuse lavender essential oil in the room to help calm any anxiety you may have.5) Place several drops of mullein oil in a container and warm inside a pot of water on the stove. Take several drops of the mullein oil and place them in the affected ear canal. Gently pull and massage the ear lobe away from your child's head and in a slightly downward direction. Use extra virgin olive oil in the same manner if no mullein oil is available or, 6) Take 1-2 drops of organic tea tree essential oil and mix in a base of 20 drops of olive oil and place several warmed drops of this mixture into the affected ear canal. Use any one of the ear drop remedies several times a day to relieve the discomforts of the inflammation. Please be sure to use essential oils that are organic and top grade quality whenever possible.7) Use the tea tree oil combination and massage it into the front of your child's chest below the collarbones in a horizontal fashion. Then rub the oil behind the affected ear(s) and massage down the side of the neck towards the collarbones. This will help open the drainage of lymph fluid into the chest cavity and allow the congestion to drain from the head. This can be done 2-3 times per day until the congestion has resolved.8) See your chiropractor, osteopath or cranial sacral worker the next day. Repeat visits as discussed with your provider.9) Contact your medical health care provider if your child does not improve within 48 hours, develops drainage from the ear or appears to be getting worse.Dr. Lawrence B. Palevsky, MD is a board certified pediatrician who received his medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine. He completed a pediatric residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC and a one year fellowship at Bellevue Hospital-NYU School of Medicine in the outpatient department and emergency room. Dr. Palevsky's clinical experience includes pediatric emergency room and pediatric acute care medicine, in-patient and out-patient pediatric medicine, neonatal intensive care, newborn and delivery room medicine and private practice. Most recently he was in practice as the holistic and integrative pediatrician at the Center for Health & Healing, a complementary medical facility affiliated with the Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC. Dr. Palevsky is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Balance Between Allopathy and Homeopathy
The Balance between Allopathy and Homeopathy:
Where Are We Twenty Years later?
by Dr. Luc De Schepper
Call it coincidence, but twenty years ago is when I immigrated to
California from my native Belgium as a medical doctor, acupuncturist
and above all, in my heart and mind, a homeopath. I have been
fortunate to have encountered the most brilliant medical minds in
Europe and here in the US. New drugs, new vaccinations, new genetic
discoveries, new techniques to probe deeper and deeper in the human
body ... there seems to be no limit to the wonders we can expect from
allopathy. Most people believe that modern medicine has arrived at
the peak of scientific achievement, from which it will go from
triumph to triumph.
Yet there is disturbing news on the horizon. Since World War II we
have considered infectious diseases on the verge of eradication; in
fact Secretary of State George Marshall made a speech to that effect
in1948. Yet they are the number one cause of death in the world, and
old-fashioned diseases like whooping cough, TB and cholera are coming
back in record numbers. Microbes are becoming more and more
resistant, due in part to the flagrant overuse of antibiotics by
medical doctors and factory farms. These antibiotics, which we
thought would eradicate infectious diseases in our lifetime, are
becoming increasingly powerless against the new strains of resistant
bacteria. Diarrhea, which we think of as a relatively harmless
infectious disease, kills millions of children worldwide every year,
making it the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular
disease. TB, malaria, diarrhea, and sexually transmitted diseases are
the real silent epidemics. Our attention may be diverted by the
horror stories about AIDS and the Ebola virus, but these silent
epidemics affect far more people.
Nor is much said about the 600,000 new victims of cancer every year
in the US. In fact, in light of the newest genetic therapies,
allopathic scientists predict that cancer will be conquered by the
year 2010. As a medical doctor, I do pray that they are right, but as
a homeopath, I doubt it. There are too many risk factors in the
unhealthy American lifestyle and too many hereditary factors (which
in homeopathy we call miasms) which allopathic medicine cannot touch
with genetic therapy. Cancer is now the number two cause of death,
not a hopeful sign for the immediate future.
Medical practices outside of "official" medicine always have been an
important part of the public's health care. In fact, until the early
decades of this century, allopathic medicine coexisted with
homeopathic and herbal medicine in this country, as it still does in
nearly every other country in the world. In fact I know of no other
country in which one form of medicine has such a monopoly of legal
protection and insurance reimbursement as allopathic medicine does in
this country. Alternative healers, through the centuries, have
offered a multiplicity of ways to address the confusion and suffering
that accompany disease. The notion of alternative medicine as
quackery (a term originally applied to allopathic physicians for
using toxic doses of mercury to "cure" syphilis ) has been reinforced
by a once commonly heard definition of it as any treatment not taught
in an accredited medical school. This definition is no longer valid,
as most medical schools have added nontraditional courses in response
to growing public interest in alternative therapies. With this change
in attitude came a change in name to complementary or integrative
medicine, indicating that allopathy and alternative methods can be
used together to support each other.
At the same time that we see tremendous interest in complementary
medicine among the public-and a slow but increasing interest among
medical doctors-we also see tremendous ignorance. One mistake I see
among allopathic practitioners is to lump all the different forms of
non-allopathic healing into one basket. But certain forms-notably
acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic- require years of study of
health sciences comparable to the years of training in conventional
medicine, and they should not be lumped together with psychic
healers, pendulum dowsers and tarot card readers. This does a
disservice to forms of healing which are based on scientific laws and
principles and which merit the serious inquiry of the open-minded allopath.
In my lectures about homeopathy at medical schools and hospitals,
certain lines of questioning keep coming up. One is the argument that
homeopathy, like herbal and other "eclectic" medicines, is an
old-fashioned form of healing, practiced by people with little to no
training, regulation of practice or standards for quality of care.
While it is true that in allopathic medicine we certainly would not
accept any drug or procedure from more than 50 years ago (and most
drugs are out of date within a few years), it is a strength of
homeopathy that we use the same remedies discovered when homeopathy
was founded nearly 200 years ago. When a new drug comes out, often
side effects and serious problems are discovered only when millions
of people start using it. It gives me confidence in homeopathy to
know that the remedies have already been used by millions of people
worldwide for many decades, and their effects are well-known. Our
knowledge in homeopathy keeps building and building on strong solid
scientific principles; we do not have to keep discarding what we know
as allopathic medicine does.
When we study the history of homeopathic medicine in this country, we
also see that in the nineteenth century, when homeopathy enjoyed such
widespread support especially among the educated classes, homeopathic
physicians received the same training as their allopathic colleagues
plus an additional two years of homeopathy. It was well known that
the most brilliant medical students would go on to become homeopaths.
Unfortunately the American Medical Association (formed two years
after the American Homeopathic Association, and with the express
purpose of rooting out homeopathy in this country) succeeded in using
legal and economic pressure to prevent homeopathic physicians from
practicing. Homeopathic medical schools were forced to convert to
allopathy or their graduates would not qualify for licensure exams;
homeopathic physicians were taken into court to have their licenses taken away.
The "dirty tricks" of the allopathic medical societies in the early
years of this century, plus the lure of the "magic bullet" of the new
antibiotic drugs, led to a decline in homeopathy in the middle of
this century, to the point that 20 years ago very few medical doctors
were practicing it. The old guard had almost all died off and very
few new doctors were joining. With the rise of interest in
alternative medicine a quarter-century ago, the gap was filled at
first with lay homeopaths. Now we have a tremendous interest in
homeopathy among MDs, osteopaths, naturopaths, veterinarians, nurse
practitioners, chiropractors, and acupuncturists. I can see this in
my own school, where dozens of health care professionals are learning
to incorporate homeopathy into their practices.
Another major change I see in the past 20 years is the research being
done in homeopathy, both in the US and abroad. So often we see in the
popular press-and even in medical journals, whose authors should know
better-that homeopathy is "unproven" and "there is no scientific
evidence to support it." The fact is that homeopathy does have good
scientific evidence to back it up. Unfortunately most of the research
has been done overseas and is not easily available here. Until
recently, the US government has not funded research in alternative
medicine, and it still has not committed funds in any way comparable
to the funding of drug research in this country. And some of the
research on homeopathy is faulty simply because it is difficult to
apply the double-blind method (in which normally one drug is tested
against a placebo) to homeopathy, which gives a different remedy to
almost every patient with the same diagnosis (due to homeopathy's
principle of individualizing) . Yet the meta-analyses (overviews of
all the studies on homeopathy) have shown that the better designed
the study, the more likely it was to demonstrate the effectiveness of
homeopathy. Within the past few years some good research on
homeopathy has been done in this country and published in mainstream
medical journals. With the government finally funding research, we
can look forward to more of it in the years to come.
I have no problem with my allopathic colleagues scrutinizing the
potential risks and benefits of alternative medicine. Let's examine
some of them and see if homeopathy can pass muster.
Quality of care is often the first argument brought up by my
colleagues. Homeopathy definitely has the potential to provide the
same (or better) quality of care as allopathic medicine. In the past,
as we mentioned, the most brilliant physicians were the homeopaths,
and homeopathic licensure had the same components as allopathic
licensure (in terms of the content and length of time of training,
testing and certification, a defined scope of practice, review and
audit and codified disciplinary action). The fact that homeopathy
does not currently have this licensure system is a reflection on the
political and economic forces at work in this country, not a
reflection on homeopathy itself. Licensure efforts for homeopathy are
underway in a number of states, at the same time that an increasing
number of already-licensed professionals are incorporating homeopathy
into their practices. In other words, this objection is only a
temporary one until the United States can catch up with Europe, the
former Soviet States and India in providing professional training and
licensure for homeopaths.
Quality of products is another potential argument against alternative
modalities. Random tests of supplements and herbs often show that the
contents do not measure up to what is on the label. And the labels do
not contain adequate warnings about the potentially toxic effects of
large overdoses of some supplements and herbs. But homeopathic
remedies are completely safe, non-toxic (in most potencies they don't
even contain one molecule) and very inexpensive. And a true homeopath
prescribes one single remedy at a time, therefore avoiding possible
interactions among multiple remedies. Allopathy would do well to
learn from this, since we physicians have the tendency to prescribe a
multitude of drugs for various symptoms. This has never worked before
and it never will, for it creates a jungle of side effects on top of
the symptoms of the disease itself. And we may not forget that
100,000 deaths a year in this country are caused by conventional drugs.
Quality of science is probably one of the main allopathic arguments.
Conventional medicine is touted as the leader in the management of
infectious and surgical diseases. But allopathic medicine still does
not have good weapons against cholera, for example. Yet homeopathy
was already successful against the great epidemic diseases of 150
years ago: cholera, typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever. In a
great flu epidemic earlier in this century, the statistics in London
hospitals showed the mortality rate at allopathic hospitals was 55%,
but less than 5% at homeopathic hospitals. Allopathic medicine claims
to be based on the double-blind method, and discredits any form of
alternative medicine which cannot fully support every remedy or
procedure with double-blind research studies. Yet allopathic medicine
itself violates this principle every day. Surgeries, for example, are
difficult to test by this method. When surgeries are assessed by
outcomes (how many people were doing better at the end of five years,
for example), millions of surgeries per year are shown to be futile
or unnecessary. And sadly enough, according to allopathic research,
67% of prescriptions are made based on the side-effects of drugs-in
other words, not according to the original double-blind protocol.
When we look at the last twenty years, homeopathy as a healing
modality has gained the attention of the public. Without any doubt,
homeopathy could be advanced by professional standards and greater
availability of instruction to interested health care professionals.
That the public has embraced alternative medicine has been proven by
the excellent 1998 study by David Eisenberg of Harvard Medical
School, which indicated that 70% of the population had consulted an
alternative practitioner. Because of its great results in the past
and present, homeopathy will undoubtedly catch the attention of
patients ready to embrace a scientific approach that has proven its
validity in the last two hundred years. I hope that allopathic
physicians will show a serious interest in this marvelous approach
before they reject it. Humankind will be the better for it!
Dr. Luc De Schepper
Renaissance Institute of Classical Homeopathy (RICH)
Full of Life Publishing (FLOP)
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 31025
Santa Fe, NM 87594
Email:drluc@cybermesa. comwww.drluc.com/allopathy.htm
Where Are We Twenty Years later?
by Dr. Luc De Schepper
Call it coincidence, but twenty years ago is when I immigrated to
California from my native Belgium as a medical doctor, acupuncturist
and above all, in my heart and mind, a homeopath. I have been
fortunate to have encountered the most brilliant medical minds in
Europe and here in the US. New drugs, new vaccinations, new genetic
discoveries, new techniques to probe deeper and deeper in the human
body ... there seems to be no limit to the wonders we can expect from
allopathy. Most people believe that modern medicine has arrived at
the peak of scientific achievement, from which it will go from
triumph to triumph.
Yet there is disturbing news on the horizon. Since World War II we
have considered infectious diseases on the verge of eradication; in
fact Secretary of State George Marshall made a speech to that effect
in1948. Yet they are the number one cause of death in the world, and
old-fashioned diseases like whooping cough, TB and cholera are coming
back in record numbers. Microbes are becoming more and more
resistant, due in part to the flagrant overuse of antibiotics by
medical doctors and factory farms. These antibiotics, which we
thought would eradicate infectious diseases in our lifetime, are
becoming increasingly powerless against the new strains of resistant
bacteria. Diarrhea, which we think of as a relatively harmless
infectious disease, kills millions of children worldwide every year,
making it the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular
disease. TB, malaria, diarrhea, and sexually transmitted diseases are
the real silent epidemics. Our attention may be diverted by the
horror stories about AIDS and the Ebola virus, but these silent
epidemics affect far more people.
Nor is much said about the 600,000 new victims of cancer every year
in the US. In fact, in light of the newest genetic therapies,
allopathic scientists predict that cancer will be conquered by the
year 2010. As a medical doctor, I do pray that they are right, but as
a homeopath, I doubt it. There are too many risk factors in the
unhealthy American lifestyle and too many hereditary factors (which
in homeopathy we call miasms) which allopathic medicine cannot touch
with genetic therapy. Cancer is now the number two cause of death,
not a hopeful sign for the immediate future.
Medical practices outside of "official" medicine always have been an
important part of the public's health care. In fact, until the early
decades of this century, allopathic medicine coexisted with
homeopathic and herbal medicine in this country, as it still does in
nearly every other country in the world. In fact I know of no other
country in which one form of medicine has such a monopoly of legal
protection and insurance reimbursement as allopathic medicine does in
this country. Alternative healers, through the centuries, have
offered a multiplicity of ways to address the confusion and suffering
that accompany disease. The notion of alternative medicine as
quackery (a term originally applied to allopathic physicians for
using toxic doses of mercury to "cure" syphilis ) has been reinforced
by a once commonly heard definition of it as any treatment not taught
in an accredited medical school. This definition is no longer valid,
as most medical schools have added nontraditional courses in response
to growing public interest in alternative therapies. With this change
in attitude came a change in name to complementary or integrative
medicine, indicating that allopathy and alternative methods can be
used together to support each other.
At the same time that we see tremendous interest in complementary
medicine among the public-and a slow but increasing interest among
medical doctors-we also see tremendous ignorance. One mistake I see
among allopathic practitioners is to lump all the different forms of
non-allopathic healing into one basket. But certain forms-notably
acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic- require years of study of
health sciences comparable to the years of training in conventional
medicine, and they should not be lumped together with psychic
healers, pendulum dowsers and tarot card readers. This does a
disservice to forms of healing which are based on scientific laws and
principles and which merit the serious inquiry of the open-minded allopath.
In my lectures about homeopathy at medical schools and hospitals,
certain lines of questioning keep coming up. One is the argument that
homeopathy, like herbal and other "eclectic" medicines, is an
old-fashioned form of healing, practiced by people with little to no
training, regulation of practice or standards for quality of care.
While it is true that in allopathic medicine we certainly would not
accept any drug or procedure from more than 50 years ago (and most
drugs are out of date within a few years), it is a strength of
homeopathy that we use the same remedies discovered when homeopathy
was founded nearly 200 years ago. When a new drug comes out, often
side effects and serious problems are discovered only when millions
of people start using it. It gives me confidence in homeopathy to
know that the remedies have already been used by millions of people
worldwide for many decades, and their effects are well-known. Our
knowledge in homeopathy keeps building and building on strong solid
scientific principles; we do not have to keep discarding what we know
as allopathic medicine does.
When we study the history of homeopathic medicine in this country, we
also see that in the nineteenth century, when homeopathy enjoyed such
widespread support especially among the educated classes, homeopathic
physicians received the same training as their allopathic colleagues
plus an additional two years of homeopathy. It was well known that
the most brilliant medical students would go on to become homeopaths.
Unfortunately the American Medical Association (formed two years
after the American Homeopathic Association, and with the express
purpose of rooting out homeopathy in this country) succeeded in using
legal and economic pressure to prevent homeopathic physicians from
practicing. Homeopathic medical schools were forced to convert to
allopathy or their graduates would not qualify for licensure exams;
homeopathic physicians were taken into court to have their licenses taken away.
The "dirty tricks" of the allopathic medical societies in the early
years of this century, plus the lure of the "magic bullet" of the new
antibiotic drugs, led to a decline in homeopathy in the middle of
this century, to the point that 20 years ago very few medical doctors
were practicing it. The old guard had almost all died off and very
few new doctors were joining. With the rise of interest in
alternative medicine a quarter-century ago, the gap was filled at
first with lay homeopaths. Now we have a tremendous interest in
homeopathy among MDs, osteopaths, naturopaths, veterinarians, nurse
practitioners, chiropractors, and acupuncturists. I can see this in
my own school, where dozens of health care professionals are learning
to incorporate homeopathy into their practices.
Another major change I see in the past 20 years is the research being
done in homeopathy, both in the US and abroad. So often we see in the
popular press-and even in medical journals, whose authors should know
better-that homeopathy is "unproven" and "there is no scientific
evidence to support it." The fact is that homeopathy does have good
scientific evidence to back it up. Unfortunately most of the research
has been done overseas and is not easily available here. Until
recently, the US government has not funded research in alternative
medicine, and it still has not committed funds in any way comparable
to the funding of drug research in this country. And some of the
research on homeopathy is faulty simply because it is difficult to
apply the double-blind method (in which normally one drug is tested
against a placebo) to homeopathy, which gives a different remedy to
almost every patient with the same diagnosis (due to homeopathy's
principle of individualizing) . Yet the meta-analyses (overviews of
all the studies on homeopathy) have shown that the better designed
the study, the more likely it was to demonstrate the effectiveness of
homeopathy. Within the past few years some good research on
homeopathy has been done in this country and published in mainstream
medical journals. With the government finally funding research, we
can look forward to more of it in the years to come.
I have no problem with my allopathic colleagues scrutinizing the
potential risks and benefits of alternative medicine. Let's examine
some of them and see if homeopathy can pass muster.
Quality of care is often the first argument brought up by my
colleagues. Homeopathy definitely has the potential to provide the
same (or better) quality of care as allopathic medicine. In the past,
as we mentioned, the most brilliant physicians were the homeopaths,
and homeopathic licensure had the same components as allopathic
licensure (in terms of the content and length of time of training,
testing and certification, a defined scope of practice, review and
audit and codified disciplinary action). The fact that homeopathy
does not currently have this licensure system is a reflection on the
political and economic forces at work in this country, not a
reflection on homeopathy itself. Licensure efforts for homeopathy are
underway in a number of states, at the same time that an increasing
number of already-licensed professionals are incorporating homeopathy
into their practices. In other words, this objection is only a
temporary one until the United States can catch up with Europe, the
former Soviet States and India in providing professional training and
licensure for homeopaths.
Quality of products is another potential argument against alternative
modalities. Random tests of supplements and herbs often show that the
contents do not measure up to what is on the label. And the labels do
not contain adequate warnings about the potentially toxic effects of
large overdoses of some supplements and herbs. But homeopathic
remedies are completely safe, non-toxic (in most potencies they don't
even contain one molecule) and very inexpensive. And a true homeopath
prescribes one single remedy at a time, therefore avoiding possible
interactions among multiple remedies. Allopathy would do well to
learn from this, since we physicians have the tendency to prescribe a
multitude of drugs for various symptoms. This has never worked before
and it never will, for it creates a jungle of side effects on top of
the symptoms of the disease itself. And we may not forget that
100,000 deaths a year in this country are caused by conventional drugs.
Quality of science is probably one of the main allopathic arguments.
Conventional medicine is touted as the leader in the management of
infectious and surgical diseases. But allopathic medicine still does
not have good weapons against cholera, for example. Yet homeopathy
was already successful against the great epidemic diseases of 150
years ago: cholera, typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever. In a
great flu epidemic earlier in this century, the statistics in London
hospitals showed the mortality rate at allopathic hospitals was 55%,
but less than 5% at homeopathic hospitals. Allopathic medicine claims
to be based on the double-blind method, and discredits any form of
alternative medicine which cannot fully support every remedy or
procedure with double-blind research studies. Yet allopathic medicine
itself violates this principle every day. Surgeries, for example, are
difficult to test by this method. When surgeries are assessed by
outcomes (how many people were doing better at the end of five years,
for example), millions of surgeries per year are shown to be futile
or unnecessary. And sadly enough, according to allopathic research,
67% of prescriptions are made based on the side-effects of drugs-in
other words, not according to the original double-blind protocol.
When we look at the last twenty years, homeopathy as a healing
modality has gained the attention of the public. Without any doubt,
homeopathy could be advanced by professional standards and greater
availability of instruction to interested health care professionals.
That the public has embraced alternative medicine has been proven by
the excellent 1998 study by David Eisenberg of Harvard Medical
School, which indicated that 70% of the population had consulted an
alternative practitioner. Because of its great results in the past
and present, homeopathy will undoubtedly catch the attention of
patients ready to embrace a scientific approach that has proven its
validity in the last two hundred years. I hope that allopathic
physicians will show a serious interest in this marvelous approach
before they reject it. Humankind will be the better for it!
Dr. Luc De Schepper
Renaissance Institute of Classical Homeopathy (RICH)
Full of Life Publishing (FLOP)
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 31025
Santa Fe, NM 87594
Email:
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Power of Intention
I'm BACK! It's been a nice break, and I later in February I will probably take another little hiatus (although birth may give me a whole new place to blog from!)
If this wasn't Free Info Friday I would have titled this post, "I am not my check engine light." I am not sure how many are familiar with the Ekhart Tolle book a "A New Earth" or with Oprah talking about being your true self, and being present, but we have taken on studying this. We have gone further out, up and down than just Oprah and her book of the month, and it is finally starting to sink in. The difference between being present, and not takes a bit to conquer. Overcoming your Ego, is what it takes to get there. I am further on this journey today than I was last year at this time, and to be completely honest than a was a mere 6 weeks ago.
My first realization that I was getting there happened just the other night. I got in the car to go and get some frozen yogurt. After starting the van and heading out I noticed the check engine light was on. Previously as this has happened my adrenaline immediately starts to pump, my mind starts to wonder what is wrong (this doesn't last long I am not to familiar with things under the hood) and then the biggie, how much is it going to cost. My thoughts become all consumed with this until Danny takes the van to AutoZone to have the free diagnostic test run on it, truthfully this almost increases the anxiety, worry, wonder as I am not sure what the codes mean. The next step is to call our friend and mechanic and ask him what, when, and how much. These answer either calm me down a bit or ramp things up as the bigger the cost the bigger the worry for me.
The check engine light has gone on a few times since we have lived in GA. My reaction has been similar every time to what I described above. At this moment I could only tell you one of the repairs that have been done, I have know idea how much it cost, and the best thing... It DOESN'T matter. This hasn't changed how I take care of my children, myself, or my house. This hasn't changed how I drive, pay for things, or vacations I take. The only thing I was doing was raising my heart rate, blood pressure, and stress level.
Back to a few nights ago when I noticed the check engine light was on. I looked and saw, the check engine light was on. As I sat for a moment the desire to panic was there, but it was faint. I was curious as to whether or not it had just turned on so I called Danny and asked, his reply "It's been on all day." And that is where it ended. At some point we will need to take care of this, but the van is running, it doesn't smell, it's starting, and I am not the van, or the check engine light. I did ask Danny if was going to take it to Auto Zone, and he said yeah I guess, and I have been able to leave it there. It feels good to have the control over the situation. It's also nice to recognize that what I thought was "controlling" the situation before was simply me freaking out over a small thing that didn't change me.
So far in all the books I have read and the speakers I have heard there is one that stands out above the rest. I really enjoy his style, it is basic, anyone can get it and that is because being present and overcoming your ego is basic and anyone can get it. I highly recommend buying the book (after reading 5 pages I bought one for my sister) and I am going to include a link to a video you can watch online. I have only watched the first 20 or so minutes but it was so powerful that I asked Danny to stop so I could digest what Dr. Dyer had said. Here is a link to his book "The Power of Intention". This is only one of the many books he has written, he has actually written 2 children's books on the importance of being you that I think everyone child should have. Here is a link to his video online: "Dr. Wayne Dyer video."
And here is how he sums up the first chapter in his book, and what gave me the realization that I am not my check engine light:
"At this point, as I am writing about my excitement of realizing a long-obscured truth, I knew that intention is a force that we all have within us. Intention is a field of energy that flows invisibly beyond the reach of our normal, everyday habitual patterns. It's there even before our actual conception. We have the means to attract this energy to us and experience life in an exciting new way." (To me it makes perfect sense that this "energy" that is being referred to is our spirit, it existed long before our physical bodies did and is our true self.)
"Ego is made of six primary ingredients that account for how we experience ourselves as disconnected. By allowing ego to determine your life path, you deactivate the power of intention. Briefly, here are the six ego beliefs. I've written more extensively about them in several of my previous books, most notably "Your Sacred Self."
1. I am what I have. My possessions define me.
2. I am what I do. My achievements define me.
3. I am what other think of me. My reputation defines me. (I really think this one affects a lot of us...)
4. I am separate from everyone. My body defines me as alone.
5. I am separate from all that is missing in my life. My life space is disconnected from my desires.
6. I am separate from God. My life depends on God's assessment of my worthiness.
No matter how hard you try, intention can't be accessed through ego, so take some time to recognize and readjust any or all of these six beliefs. When the supremacy of ego is weakened in your life, you can seek intention and maximize your potential."
**One note, oft time in these books, videos etc. they talk of the power of the universe, or source, and energy and intention. It didn't take me more than a second to recognize that these things are simply another term that describes God, and the Spirit. Dr. Dyer does acknowledge this in a sense in his video and his book, but I know that this makes some people uncomfortable... my advice, get over your ego ;)***
If this wasn't Free Info Friday I would have titled this post, "I am not my check engine light." I am not sure how many are familiar with the Ekhart Tolle book a "A New Earth" or with Oprah talking about being your true self, and being present, but we have taken on studying this. We have gone further out, up and down than just Oprah and her book of the month, and it is finally starting to sink in. The difference between being present, and not takes a bit to conquer. Overcoming your Ego, is what it takes to get there. I am further on this journey today than I was last year at this time, and to be completely honest than a was a mere 6 weeks ago.
My first realization that I was getting there happened just the other night. I got in the car to go and get some frozen yogurt. After starting the van and heading out I noticed the check engine light was on. Previously as this has happened my adrenaline immediately starts to pump, my mind starts to wonder what is wrong (this doesn't last long I am not to familiar with things under the hood) and then the biggie, how much is it going to cost. My thoughts become all consumed with this until Danny takes the van to AutoZone to have the free diagnostic test run on it, truthfully this almost increases the anxiety, worry, wonder as I am not sure what the codes mean. The next step is to call our friend and mechanic and ask him what, when, and how much. These answer either calm me down a bit or ramp things up as the bigger the cost the bigger the worry for me.
The check engine light has gone on a few times since we have lived in GA. My reaction has been similar every time to what I described above. At this moment I could only tell you one of the repairs that have been done, I have know idea how much it cost, and the best thing... It DOESN'T matter. This hasn't changed how I take care of my children, myself, or my house. This hasn't changed how I drive, pay for things, or vacations I take. The only thing I was doing was raising my heart rate, blood pressure, and stress level.
Back to a few nights ago when I noticed the check engine light was on. I looked and saw, the check engine light was on. As I sat for a moment the desire to panic was there, but it was faint. I was curious as to whether or not it had just turned on so I called Danny and asked, his reply "It's been on all day." And that is where it ended. At some point we will need to take care of this, but the van is running, it doesn't smell, it's starting, and I am not the van, or the check engine light. I did ask Danny if was going to take it to Auto Zone, and he said yeah I guess, and I have been able to leave it there. It feels good to have the control over the situation. It's also nice to recognize that what I thought was "controlling" the situation before was simply me freaking out over a small thing that didn't change me.
So far in all the books I have read and the speakers I have heard there is one that stands out above the rest. I really enjoy his style, it is basic, anyone can get it and that is because being present and overcoming your ego is basic and anyone can get it. I highly recommend buying the book (after reading 5 pages I bought one for my sister) and I am going to include a link to a video you can watch online. I have only watched the first 20 or so minutes but it was so powerful that I asked Danny to stop so I could digest what Dr. Dyer had said. Here is a link to his book "The Power of Intention". This is only one of the many books he has written, he has actually written 2 children's books on the importance of being you that I think everyone child should have. Here is a link to his video online: "Dr. Wayne Dyer video."
And here is how he sums up the first chapter in his book, and what gave me the realization that I am not my check engine light:
"At this point, as I am writing about my excitement of realizing a long-obscured truth, I knew that intention is a force that we all have within us. Intention is a field of energy that flows invisibly beyond the reach of our normal, everyday habitual patterns. It's there even before our actual conception. We have the means to attract this energy to us and experience life in an exciting new way." (To me it makes perfect sense that this "energy" that is being referred to is our spirit, it existed long before our physical bodies did and is our true self.)
"Ego is made of six primary ingredients that account for how we experience ourselves as disconnected. By allowing ego to determine your life path, you deactivate the power of intention. Briefly, here are the six ego beliefs. I've written more extensively about them in several of my previous books, most notably "Your Sacred Self."
1. I am what I have. My possessions define me.
2. I am what I do. My achievements define me.
3. I am what other think of me. My reputation defines me. (I really think this one affects a lot of us...)
4. I am separate from everyone. My body defines me as alone.
5. I am separate from all that is missing in my life. My life space is disconnected from my desires.
6. I am separate from God. My life depends on God's assessment of my worthiness.
No matter how hard you try, intention can't be accessed through ego, so take some time to recognize and readjust any or all of these six beliefs. When the supremacy of ego is weakened in your life, you can seek intention and maximize your potential."
**One note, oft time in these books, videos etc. they talk of the power of the universe, or source, and energy and intention. It didn't take me more than a second to recognize that these things are simply another term that describes God, and the Spirit. Dr. Dyer does acknowledge this in a sense in his video and his book, but I know that this makes some people uncomfortable... my advice, get over your ego ;)***
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
