BOCA RATON WORLD TAI CHI DAY WITH DIANE GOLD – APRIL 29, 2017 – 10 AM ~ ISSUE 220 ~ PUBLISHED ON APRIL 18, 2017

By Diane Gold

DIANE GOLD 2017  BOCA RATON WORLD TAI CHI DAY, APRIL 29, 2017, 10 AM-11:30 AM, RED REEF PARK, WEDDING PAVILION, FREE PARKING & EVENT

by Diane Gold

WHAT: Diane Gold’s Boca Raton World Tai Chi Day 2017

WHERE: Red Reef Park, in the Wedding Pavilion, map , facebook event
1400 N. Ocean Blvd.
Boca Raton, Florida 33432

A1A, .8 miles north of Palmetto, east (ocean) side, your right

A1A, 2.2 miles south of Spanish River, east (ocean) side, your left

WHEN: Saturday, 10 AM-11:30 AM, APRIL 29, 2017

FEE: NONE

PARKING FEE: WAIVED – In through the gate, bear right to the South side of the parking lot. Look East and see the Wedding Pavilion. Or just ask Ira at the gate.

SECRET FORMULA:

Tai chi is a life enhancing, life extending, life saving work of moving art. Heal thyself, medicate thyself with goodness, meditate. Get powerful. Increase good energy. It is as improvisational as we are. We learn some basic, foundational movements that teach us to move everything at once. We balance our breathing (which, after the start of shortness of breath, I can tell you loads about). There is no need to work on breathing; once our movements are unstinted, smooth, pure; our breathing will match automatically – part of the tai chi magic.

Chi kung note: When I say tai chi, I am referring to tai chi and chi kung, together. They are one.

When we are sick (oy vey!), when we are well (hallellujah!); tai chi is a systematic approach of moving all body parts, inner and outer, at the same time. We are focusing. And the big kahuna gift is we are doing ONE THING AT A TIME, until we become doing no thing at a time. One-pointed focus. Do it!

WHO: Everyone.

Tai chi is good for everyone, every age, every mind set. The only requirement is that we be human. And that is only for this example, because, as people give their pets acupuncture, massage and other medicine; some also do tai chi with their beloved pets.

Let’s bring our anxiety, our anger, our grief, our power, our love, our hate, our ADHD, our sickness, our health, our poverty, our riches. Tai chi will turn it all into peace. It’s not a mind thing; it’s evidence-based and studied medicine. When we move the body, we produce chemicals, hormones spurt, electrical impulses pulse. When we tai chi, we are focusing on just that one thing. In order to focus, we work it. This leaves no time for pinball mind, emotional roller coaster. This balances the body functions. Thus, positive results turn the ever present dis-ease into ease.

HOW:

Repetition. To become familiar. This familiarity develops a habit, as with any habit. This habit allows us the fluidity of tai chi.

ACTION STEP:

April 29, 2017, 10 AM, come on down to Diane Gold’s Boca Raton World Tai Chi Day event in Red Reef Park at the Wedding Pavilion. Have some fun. Make some friends. See some friends. Build a peace bridge. Do some Trance Tai Chi, too (mellow electronic dance music and tai chi). Free & Parking Fee Waived when you say Boca Raton World Tai Chi Day. More details at dianegold.com.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues.

If you need habit help, check out http://warriorsofweight.com/warriorsofweight-consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

D

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

GETTING RID OF NAUSEA – MOVE IT! MOVE IT! ~ ISSUE 216 ~ OCTOBER 18, 2016

by Diane Gold

Getting rid of nausea is a wonderful thing. When nausea consumes us, we forget about all the time we have spent in our lives without it. But, it’s always heavenly if we can figure out a way like to get rid of it, even temporarily.

THE REVELATION

Quite by accident, I learned a sensational technique that may be helpful for everyone. Of course, it involved changing the biology through movement, which is the magic solution to so much.

I have been experiencing daily nausea and am not sure why. As of this writing, I have had some days without it, for which I am dancing and jumping for joy (WOO-HOO!). The point is it may come back, and many people have it daily even if I do not, at the moment. I wouldn’t have realized it is a new habit, but it becomes one if it shows up on a regular basis. Rather than get used to it, since it does not support my life, I look for a way to replace this habit with a new one.

So, I came upon this movement activity that replaced my habit as I was getting rid of nausea. I do tai chi and play the piano and even dance while nauseated. This is old news. But here is what’s new.

I was doing a physical therapy exercise by a doctor of physical therapy (thank you, Medicare) that I have been given to alleviate my left frozen shoulder. (I have already had right frozen shoulder which took a year to clear with no therapy due to no insurance or proper knowledge of technique.) Guess what happened?

The fairly severe pain I was causing myself as part of my so far successful regime to help my shoulder get back its mobility created chemical change in my body. This biological reaction caused the nausea to alleviate for a good long set of hours. I was amazed.

I immediately thought of the technique some teens use to alleviate the emotional pain of life: cutting. According to Michael Hollander, MD and author of Helping Teens Who Cut…, “This is an emotion-regulation strategy.” The methods I discuss below could be a positive replacement for this behavior.

Dancing, tai chi, stretching and playing music are hugely effective and positive activities; they can cause psychic trauma to relieve emotional pain. Who knew that these constructive exercises which can be painful when we are working hard could remove physical pain in this same way? I have led a wonderful life and have not experienced serious pain before. But, now, nausea has been my latest pain or my weight. And I am its warrior. (Get it? Warrior of Weight?) And causing a different kind of body pain made it go away, more than once.

THE BIOLOGY, WITH QUOTE FROM LEO WIDRICH

The presence of new physical pain can be called a distraction from the previous pain of nausea, but the alleviation of the nausea was caused by chemical changes in my body.

When we exercise, the body responds. So does the mind. I quote Leo Widrich, below, whose full article from 2/4/14 on exercise and happiness is available at fastcompany.com.

“Here is what actually happens:

If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, you release a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This BDNF has a protective and also reparative element to your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch. That’s why we often feel so at ease and things are clear after exercising and eventually happy.

At the same time, endorphins, another chemical to fight stress, [are] released in your brain. Your endorphins’ main purpose [is written by] researcher McGovern [as],

‘These endorphins tend to minimize the discomfort of exercise, block the feeling of pain and are even associated with a feeling of euphoria.'”

(Leo Widrich is the creator of Buffer.)

HOW TO USE POSITIVE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR NAUSEA

We can see how the above biology lesson follows what we experience when we move our bodies. When the body thinks it’s in stress, it produces feel good chemicals to help us cope. I never considered of getting rid of nausea other (constructive) physical pain.

I propose

ACTION STEP ONE: STRETCHING

as a great technique for getting rid of nausea, as long as we can move some part of our body. This activity is the exercise that gave me my revelation as I was stretching my shoulder to free its barriers.  In doing any kind of stretching, we could cause the body to alleviate pain by feeling stretching good.

ACTION STEP TWO: DANCING OR TAI CHI

Whether we dance or do tai chi for 15 seconds in our bed or chair or we do a full street event, either of these activity will do wonders for nausea. Even if we fake it to make it (I looked for the origin of this phrase online. I do know that my friends and I used the expression frequently in 1968, so the book written with a similar name in 1982 was not its beginning.), our bodies will product chemicals to make us cope with the activity and help our problem.

ACTION STEP THREE: PLAYING MUSIC

Playing music has the benefits of calming the mind (or exciting it, depending upon the music and the outcome desired). We release dopamine in both the dorsal and ventral striatum, which perceive reward. Some days after I had experienced the exercise trick for nausea, I played music while feeling nauseated. It did not have as instant a reaction, but it limited my discomfort after a longer period of time. As a music therapist, I was not surprised. I had never used music for my own physical pain, which was nausea, but it was effective.

CONCLUSION

When we go beyond our capacity, just a little, by stretching, doing tai chi, dancing, activating ourselves through music – either by creating it or being stimulated by it – we can heal ourselves. These action steps are a set of natural ways of getting rid of nausea and pushing through what comes our way.

If you are so inclined, if you know anyone who might benefit, please pass this on.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues. or even better, write your own article and put it up on a free wordpress site (https://wordpress.com),
it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes in looking on the bright side. She says,

“If you can move for 5 seconds, you will make a change. Pick something you like; for me, it’s dance, tai chi, stretching, playing music. Just do it a little, from a bed, from a chair, on the open track.

“You know what they say, ‘Move it, or lose it.’ True, true. Good for the mind, good for the body. Do it!

“This is one of the simple ways to care for ourselves. It is a way of loving ourselves. By passing it on, we care for and love our fellow beings at all costs – and we are all always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
MOVE IT!

Getting Rid Of Nausea

THE ONE STEP TECHNIQUE FOR IMPERFECT HEALTH ~ ISSUE 215 ~ AUGUST 30, 2016

By Diane Gold

AFTER 60

Diane Gold leading World Tai Chi Day 2016

In the past 7 years, I have gone from perfect health to imperfect health. For one day, 7 years ago, my heart was hurting, and my blood pressure went up.  That was for less hthan a day. I do believe I had an event, even though the tests that were run for 8 months after that with every Western specialty I approached did not find anything.  Aside from that, I did not have imperfect health and was in good shape.

AFTER AUGUST, 2015

6 years later, came nausea, dizziness (still here) and speeding (gone for now). This occurred several months after my taking the magic Hepatitis C curing medicine. Is this a set of side effects from the wonder drugs? Possibly. But no one is studying me to see.

The liver doc was thrilled to add me to his list of almost 500 undetectable Hep C virus patients who took the wonder drug (for which there is a short track record of people like me who are called “cured”). He referred me to various colleagues who had no answers, only smiles.

Then, as you may know, I was short of breath in January, 2016, and wrote my hello once more post. Scary, but a glimpse of the cycle of life and death. I can breathe well again now but don’t know why I couldn’t. Secular hallelujah!

CURRENTLY

Currently, I am in imperfect health, nauseated for longer periods than last year, usually daily, and feel like I’m going to crash from low blood sugar (although my glucose levels are fine) when I don’t eat often. Otherwise, I am great.

Could I have used up or did the Hep C drugs eat up all my stored up nutritional reserves? Possibly.

ACTION STEPS

There are a series of things we can do to go with the flow of our lives and maximize our perfect or imperfect health. Here are some.

1)  GRATITUDE UPON WAKING

I am grateful upon awakening. Even if there’s some discomfort, there is much for which to be joyful. I move the body, have beautiful organic food to eat (preparing wheatgrass juice pre-smoothie, play my new keyboard- thank you, kids), bond with the cats and notice the new things my body has to offer. A little frozen shoulder here, a little nausea there, good breathing here, strength of purpose there. Imperfect health, but mostly good things, looking at the whole picture.

2)  MY ONE STEP TECHNIQUE TO FEELING GOOD

Most of the day, I am not in stress. For me, that would mean nauseated, although there are hours at a time. The challenge is to move through the nausea. I use the same technique I always offer: TAKE ONE STEP and then repeat that same step over and over, as if there were no nausea.

Consider that being nauseated is like craving drugs. The fix (no pun intended) is to focus on the new task of running up and down the block, meeting with a friend, drinking a smoothie, rather than on,

“Oh, I still want to get high,”

or

“Oh, no. I am nauseated.”

The one step that I take could be eating or working or moving or playing music or doing some tai chi movement. These can settle the feeling and make me feel good. What chemical movement happens to change the feeling, I don’t know. I do know the habit of taking one step and repeating it is THE WAY. It forms a new habit of pushing through that may completely create a dormancy of the imperfect health. If now, at least, it will allow maximum bang for life’s buck.

3)  LEARNING THE HUMAN MACHINE

Our bodies and minds act in different ways throughout our lives. It is our job to roll with them and become new, daily. I am working on being new all the time. For now, that means remembering to eat by a certain time, or the body will start to crash, adding fuel before the fuel abruptly starts to run out.

CONCLUSION

I had 60 “perfect health” years. Now I’m having some imperfect health. Not so bad on the scale of things. Super, in fact; and I look forward to perfect health, even if it’s not all the time. I am forever grateful for all the gifts I have, and I am thrilled at imperfect health fixing using the one step technique that I always profess, that it is here for me now and it works well.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment, or post it on a social media site. Share yourself.

If you need habit help, check out warriorsofweight.com/consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes in taking the easiest and cleanest path. This means the one step technique. She says,

“I have professed the one step technique and have used it many times. Because of its simplicity, it works. It does not look to the future. It looks at now and developing a new habit by repeating one step again and again.

“Now, when it comes to walking proudly through my own imperfect health journey, I am using it. When I am nauseated, I go sit down to work. And I improve. When I am nauseated, I eat. And I shorten or eliminate the nausea. Also, to avoid the feeling of crashing, I eat early and frequently. Each of these actions is one step. By taking the steps over and over again, I am creating them as new habits. These habits can eliminate or override not feeling that perfect health I had experienced for so long.

“The one step technique for imperfect health is thrilling because as our health changes, we have this free method that only requires one step. An does not require a financial investment.

“This is one of the simple ways to care for ourselves. It is a way of loving ourselves. By passing it on, we care for and love our fellow beings at all costs – and we are all always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
EMPLOYEE THE ONE STEP TECHNIQUE FOR IMPERFECT HEALTH.

EASTERN AND WESTERN MEDICINE – THE HOLE AND HOW TO FIX IT ~ ISSUE 209 ~ APRIL 26, 2016
By Diane Gold

THE HOLE

Eastern and Western medicine both have one goal: to help the patient. But a hole develops in each of us as a result of there being no meeting of the Eastern and Western medical minds.

“Oh, it’s WHOLE; it’s HOLISTIC. Let’s do it”

can be heard from the sidelines.

But, in reality, unless we create medical cooperation involving Eastern and Western doctors; we are offering an incomplete form of medicine worldwide.

Those who are knowledgeable in nutrition and prevention do not, for example, know about surgery or emergency medicine. And rheumatologists and lung doctors, as an example, do not have proper information about nutrition, prevention or skin grafting – usually.

CLOSING THE HOLE

So, before we continue, here’s what we can do to close the hole.

ACTION STEP

We need one Western and one Eastern medical provider together in the room at each appointment. This combo is the DOCTOR TEAM.

Every medical group needs the integrative medical approach, the real integrative medical approach, not a one-sided group of people who are all Western or all Eastern.

THE DOCTOR TEAMS AKA THE INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE DEPARTMENT

The integration of West and East is what is needed in medicine. A medical group where the patient doesn’t choose among different disciplines, but the patient gets the team of experts, and the TEAM meets and discusses the findings separately and then, with the patient, is the way. And thinking and creating this change in medical delivery system – the DOCTOR TEAM – is merely habit change. We, in the Western medical world, can realize and cooperate with the Eastern sector. We, in the Eastern medical world, can realize the value and cooperate with the Western sector.

EXAMPLE OF A GROWING PAINS ATTEMPT AT INTEGRATIVE MED

I saw a Western doctor, who had a broader perspective on Eastern med because he was raised as a vegetarian and knew the value of vegan nutrition, and because he was raised in a culture rich in yoga (and, subsequently, tai chi). Most integrative docs do not have this upbringing, but, even with this, the two other parts of his team, slanted westwardly which imbalanced the TEAM.
Slanting doesn’t get the job done since we need what we need when we need it and it’s hard to get a whole picture when there are holes and slanting.

The protocol for this integrative team was to consult with this main doctor, who was far more open and more qualified than most. Next we were to see the exercise physiologist. Unfortunately, her approach was quite Western as she gave formulaic movement that only moved the outer muscles and missed moving the bones, tendons, body organs and missed the inner energy. Finally, we were to see the nutritionist or dietitian, I can’t recall. I felt this was the most important part of the consult and was excited for this opportunity.

Unfortunately, the human with whom I had the appointment failed miserably. I informed her weeks in advance that I needed her expertise for my diet which is vegan and that I would require her to present me with information about what I ate and how it related to my health. Her lack of any effort to have come with any knowledge showed total disrespect for my health, I was astounded as she handed me a chart with meat at the top and said she didn’t know what to tell me about the principles of nutrition as it applied to a vegan.

This led me to consider that many groups slant one way or the other, rather than cooperate.

WHY CLOSE UP THE HOLE

Many of both Western and Eastern doctors know a good deal about their particular specialty. But most know very little about the other’s. This is true of all our expert knowledge, in general, since each discipline requires long-term study so much so that it is highly unlikely we will have time for a second. If we know how to play piano, it doesn’t mean we can play drums. If we know how to paint, it doesn’t mean we know how to do graphic art. If we know how to work with broken bones, it doesn’t mean we know how to do heart surgery.

But when it comes to medicine, we, the people, are whole beings and cannot afford for any holes in our medical treatment, any ego trips by those who treat us or anything less than a whole approach. So, this is the huge reason to close the hole, delete the gap, join hands together and make the DOCTOR TEAM with Eastern and Western doctors equally sharing the responsibility for the health of the patient.

FEAR, AN OLD HABIT

Hopefully, we can place our fears aside so that we can make progress coming together in medicine.

1) SHOWING IGNORANCE TO COLLEAGUES

Many health care providers fear showing ignorance, so they stay away from the very people in the other way of doing medicine who have the very knowledge they are missing. For many, even worse than showing a colleague ignorance would be showing a fellow health care provider from the opposite school how we lack knowledge. And then the patient suffers.

2) ADMITTING IGNORANCE TO SELF

Many health care providers do not want to admit they are ignorant. After so many years of whatever school to get an expert degree, we feel nervous to say to ourselves we are ignorant. So, we hide it and plod on at the patient’s expense.

3) BUILDING CREDIBILITY WITH COLLEAGUES

Both Western and Eastern health care providers are led to believe that the other’s approach is not real medicine, that one is all pills and the other is all hocus pocus; and that there would be no credible way to work together other than for one to be the boss and the other to be the assistant. This has to do with the schooling of each branch of study.

ACTION STEP

It’s time to have mandatory classes for all Eastern and all Western medical students that discuss integration and the value of the union of Western and Eastern work. The classes should include students from both schools of thought.

CONCLUSION

Eastern and Western medicine go together. Why? Because the body is one whole group of systems. One approach isn’t better than the other. And, yes, there are times when one way is needed more than the other. But our thinking on the subject is due to habit, which we can replace.

Yes, we need a cardiologist when we are about to die of heart failure. But, for the rest of our lives, before our crisis and after our crisis; we need a set of trained experts to show us the way to live a healthy life. That’s why we need the DOCTOR TEAM. For our health and understanding, to save on sickness costs, to develop the best medical system that exists, to lead lives that include a trusted complete WHOLE MEDICINE.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues. or even better, write your own article and put it up on a free wordpress site (https://wordpress.com), or post it on a social media site. Share yourself.

If you need habit help, check out http://warriorsofweight.com/warriorsofweight-consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes in cooperation and that we can replace old habits with new. She says,

“Even if we were raised to believe that the medical doctor is the queen of the health care providers, we can replace that when we find that the team approach with both Eastern and Western providers as the co-bosses.

“No one knows everything. And everyone can learn. Imagine placing our egos in a box while going into alignment with a Western doctor if we are Eastern and vice versa. When we are finished work, we can grab our egos, unless they are best suited to the box. What if we could provide 3 X the value to our patients? Wouldn’t that be worth it not to feel like the queen alone and share the title?

“And, in doing so, we get to take overall good care of each other and ourselves – including loving ourselves and our fellow beings at all costs – because we are all always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
LOOK FOR A DOCTOR TEAM WHERE BOTH EASTERN DOCTOR AND WESTERN DOCTOR ARE EQUALS AND WORKING TOGETHER. DOES THIS EXIST? ASK AROUND.

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH:
DO TAI CHI ON THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 30 AT 10 AM.
DETAILS HERE.

TAI CHI APP ~ ISSUE 208 ~ APRIL 12, 2016

By Diane Gold

BOCA RATON WORLD TAI CHI DAY APRIL 30 – 10 – 11:30 AM – DETAILS HERE!

TAI CHI APPS DEFINITIONS (AND CHI KUNG, TOO)

Tai chi is a system of movement that entails the ability to flow like water. We move our bones, muscles, tendons – from the inside out – in unison with the skin that covers them and the mind that accompanies them. The joy and the challenge are to notice the movement as are doing it. To do so requires us to experience the relaxation for which it is famous.

Chi kung is similar in nature; it moves the organs from the inside out through static posture and limb and body torquing.

Apps are applications; they are ways to apply method, often, but not necessarily always, digitally formatted.

THE APP

The tai chi and chi kung app to which I refer is the application of the principles of the systems and is not digital. There are some free or not so free apps that can be very helpful if you have a device that can stand upright on its own. If you have to hold it, you are doomed.

THE QUESTION

I have one question and one question only: if we could do a simple body movement for 30 seconds or more a day that could be done in any location, in any clothing, that could instantaneously take us to a joyful spot, could reduce sickness, develop health, provide youth while it lengthens life, is fun and makes us feel ecstatic and balanced; why would we not devote 30 seconds a day?

CONCLUSION

The question is for each of us to answer, whether to do it or not. Tai chi and chi kung make us better, happier, more well, stronger. Doing these arts for 30 seconds a day can matter. Doing any mind/body work on a consistent basis helps considerably.

Please consider the tai chi app, the one that is available to each of us just by moving slowly with arms extended to the side or to the sky.

ACTION STEPS: COOL EXERCISE!

1) Spend 30 seconds a day standing with feet shoulder width apart, each arm out to the side.

2) Bend the knees a little bit as you tuck the butt without leaning backwards or forwards.

3) Slowly extend the L arm further to the L.

4) Slowly, without stopping the movement, come through center.

5) Slowly, without stopping the movement, extend the R arm to the R.

6) Slowly, without stopping the movement, come through center.
7) Repeat steps 3 through 6 two more X.

8) Sink the elbows so that the arms hang to the sides.

9) Relax with knees bent for one slow breath in and out through the nose.

Bam! Energy With Tranquility!

Check out the roots of this type of exercise.

WORLD TAI CHI DAY, April 30, 2016, 10 – 11:30 am, http://dianegold.com, OR look up an event near you at worldtaichi.org.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues. or even better, write your own article and put it up on a free wordpress site (https://wordpress.com), or post it on a social media site. Share yourself.

If you need habit help, check out warriorsofweight.com/consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes tai chi can be a life changer. She says,

“Tai chi makes us pliable. Being plaible makes us flow like water. When we flow like water, we can adapt to what is and what is to come. How cool is that!

“It is one of the only arts that can be done with massive effect by taking a tiny amount of time consistently. Who wouldn’t do it? Access the tai chi app within.

“And, in doing so, we get to take overall good care of each other and ourselves – including loving ourselves and our fellow beings at all costs – because we are all always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
DO THE INCLUDED ACTION STEP EXERCISE, AT LEAST, ONE TIME.

EXERCISE OF THE MONTH:
DO TAI CHI ON THE LAST SATURDAY OF APRIL.
DETAILS HERE.

REBIRTH – COMING BACK TO LIFE – SHE NOT BUSY BEING BORN IS BUSY DYING*** ~ ISSUE 206 ~ MARCH 22, 2016

By Diane Gold

The concept of rebirth here means coming back to life and daily evolution. My definition may be one of the lesser common ones. It has nothing to do with reincarnation. It has all to do with how we live our lives here and now.

Let’s start with birth. That’s when we begin a series of catharses from our mother’s womb to the end of breath as we know it. It is also when we begin a concept or project, a belief system or a phase.

Rebirth, therefore, is what happens when we take one step in a new direction. Some refer to it as born again. Others know it as transformation. This happens every day and can be noticed by being aware of everything – our minds, our bodies, our relationships, our talents, our intellect, our purpose – or nothing. It happens whether we are looking or not. It happens from one condition to a better one. It happens from one condition to a worse one.

Let’s look at Bob Dylan’s words which are really,

***He not busy being born is busy dying,

a lyric in the 1964 song It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding).

I feminized the lyric to represent a more universal approach, not to aim it at women, but to rebirth the male pronoun to a feminine one to include all of us.

The lyric refers to being in the moment of doing things, living, evolving – busy being born, as opposed to busy being in the moment of doing nothing, living in negativity, choosing to stagnate. I don’t believe the lyric refers to physical dying. Even when we know we are physically dying very soon, we have the opportunity to live well while we are still breathing. Not such an easy thing, but if we live that way when we are not soon to die physically, we have more experience opening up, living newness all the time.

How profound! Let’s be being born. It happens anyway. How many times in a lifetime do we say,

“I’m not the same person as I was then.”

As I see it, we are the same person; we are a conglomeration of the daily evolution of that being.

REBIRTH SCENARIOS

Rebirth can be anything:

from being sick to being well
from just mopping a floor to mopping a floor so well that it starts to shine with love
from not having kissed to kissing for the first time
from djing in our prime to djing for the last time
from being a child without the ability to give birth to giving physical birth
from not being dependent on a drug to being dependent on a drug
from being dependent on a drug to replacing the drug dependence with dancing
from having many visits with our kids to visiting with our kids one last time
from being sad to being accepting
from being too shy to reach out to doing it after years of shyness
from nice to nasty
from nasty to nice
from young to old
from old mind to young mind
from sitting on a bench hungry to eating a strawberry while sitting on that bench.

All these scenarios represent the rebirth experience: getting familiar with living and dying (shedding our former self) on a daily basis. Some happenings take us to what we would call favorable places. Others take us to new places that, on the surface, may seem undesirable. Even these can be evolutionary. We become from wherever we are.

REBIRTH ACTIVITIES

All activities give us new life, are evolutionary and can be instrumental in guiding us to change. Something dull and boring may become meaningful and evolutionary. Nothing has to be glamorous or look spiritual. If we are involved, this is part of our spirit, so it is spiritual. It can be cleaning feces off a wall, meditating with monks, creating an empire or teaching a child.

Take WATCHING A BASEBALL GAME. I am using this example because anything can be that one thing that causes a grand leap. So we are watching a game with the girls, and from this watching, we realize that we need to spend more time playing catch with our kids. So we get home and launch a full campaign to do just that. The result from our doing so brings us closer to our kids, seems to contribute to our middle daughter’s not acting out as much and we reduce our cholesterol. Triple header!

MY LIST

Here are the things I like to do. Although every time I interact with another person, I am aware of my own transformation; the following activities seem to be universally popular for rebirth, catharsis, dramatic change. Of course, this is from my view point. I really like each of these activities, and they transform. So is it possible that,

“THE MORE WE LIKE AN ACTIVITY, THE MORE WE WILL GO THROUGH REBIRTH, BLOSSOMING, EVOLUTION AND REPLACE OURSELVES IN THE DOING?”

TAI CHI is one of my transformers.
PLAYING PIANO & CREATING MUSIC have been a huge part of my life.
FREE DANCING and being surrounded by other beings who free dance has been amazing and is my newest love.
COACHING PEOPLE to be good to themselves brings a layer of growth to me.
LISTENING TO ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC is sooooooooooooooo relaxing.

CONCLUSION

Rebirth, as I mean it, is the process of our becoming new. It is the blossoming and shedding we do within ourselves daily and always. Kind of the way our skin sheds regularly. We all do it. We all become, even in our final days. Let us flow as we grow.

Even though flowing like water seems easy, we encounter much obstruction along the way; we have to maneuver. The journey is to find the flow, even in the harshest conditions. It is said that the ONLY time we know how balanced and flowing we are is in times of adversity.

Whatever we do for rebirth, change, growth has to be pure, because any impurities tag along and invade us. Hallucinogens can transform us. Most other drugs are too controlling. Plant-based food can be transformative. The animals saved by our eating this way certainly think so. There are many glorious choices out there. Most of them involve moving. So go move something. Feel the rebirth occur.

ACTION STEPS

Please make a list of, at least, 3 things that you love to do.
Notice how one of these activities transforms you.
If so moved, write about it and send it in so we can post it. We can share it anonymously or just read it privately.
Notice personal growth on a daily basis as you become new and then new again.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues. or even better, write your own article and put it up on a free wordpress site (https://wordpress.com), or post it on a social media site. Share yourself.

If you need habit help, check out warriorsofweight.com/consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes it’s important to become new, to notice rebirth. She says,

“What I mean by rebirth is being born or changed into, a new person, each day, every day, more than once a day, just by being and noticing.

“I thought of it because I do this free dancing which creates in each of us a movement similar to birth where we go from a pile of rubble to a glowing ball of light that can heal inside us and outside us. And one of the participants used the word “rebirth,”to which I could not relate, wholeheartedly, at the beginning of the session. Toward the end, though, it was as if I were a continuum of myself,combination of myself a second ago, in the present and a minute from now. That, to me was rebirth.

“Pretty much fun. I recommend noticing any kind of change, replacement, renewal that occurs. Enjoy it.

“Finally, let’s take overall good care of ourselves – including loving ourselves and our fellow beings at all costs – because we are always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
CONSIDER ONE THING WE DID THIS WEEK THAT WE CONSIDER A CHANGE, A NEWNESS, AN EVOLUTION.

THE MYTH OF MEDITATION – AND THE MILLION DOLLAR SECRET ~ ISSUE 205 ~ MARCH 15, 2016

By Diane Gold

The myth of meditation is the “we can do it” myth. We hear talk about different kinds of meditation as well as unique results from various people. So, what’s the myth? Myth Of Meditation

DEFINITIONS

Let’s define meditation as taking the time to get the self to a state of chaoslessness. Others call it contemplation, but that is only part of the process which meditation is and, not starting with the clarity to contemplate, does not signify failure. We have to train in any discipline. The act of taking the time to begin is the process of meditation.

The definition of myth is a false idea that is widely held (such as the idea that the heart stops when we sneeze which resulted in our blessing each other because of the danger).

So the myth of meditation is a false idea about taking the time to get peaceful.

THE MYTH

Here is the myth of meditation: that all we need do to do meditation is one of many step-by-step procedures, and, if we do this, we will succeed. The reason I say it is the “we can do it” myth is that teachers tell meditators they can do it and give them a method. The glitch in that system is that the method prescribed often lacks a crucial element.

Yes, it’s a given that if we take time out to sit in a corner, listen to quiet music while lying on a couch, smell our favorite fragrance, sit on the beach in quietude, we will be enhancing ourselves at that very time. But, the myth prevails because many how-tos have the same weakness, the inability to lead the meditator to do one action at a time.

________________________________________________________

This article is dedicated to Sassy, a gentle spirit of a dog for whom I was given the privilege of part-time guardian. We miss you, Sassy Machine. Shout out to her human parents for bravely living the lesson that we must put the good of our honorable animals ahead of our own desires to keep them with us when it is time for them to go.

________________________________________________________

THE WANDERING MIND

What we remember when we are coming up with methods on how to meditate is that we are looking for the monk mind, the focused mind. What we forget is that it is our mind’s job to grab stimuli and explore, unless we train it otherwise. Therefore, to start, most of us will get distracted by every external thing. That includes being distracted by the very things that are part of our given how-to for the purpose of quieting the mind, like listening to temple music, saying a mantra (repeating a word over and over in the mind), picturing a color or image, all while we are breathing to sustain ourselves and get the self to a state of chaoslessness.

MINIMIZING THE CHAOS

So, we need some technique that immediately eliminates stimuli. That means the joy of learning something new, hearing a new sound, smelling a new smell, feeling a new feeling, seeing a new sight, tasting a new taste must be replaced with a technique that eliminates these things so that the hungry mind learns another way. Here’s something that might help.

ACTION STEPS – THE BASIC COURSE CORRECTION FOR ANY MEDITATION METHOD

1) Know that if you are doing anything other than watching your breathing, you are doing more than one thing at a time.

Here’s a cut and dry way of looking at doing one thing at a time: take the example that, while standing with no other supports, we cannot lift both legs at the same time without falling. We know that if we are standing on our L leg with the R knee raised high, we cannot lift the L leg off the standing surface because the L leg must remain as support. We know this because the body would react by falling if we did. Similar in concept is the example of breathing and doing some other meditate-y thing like saying a mantra. We actually cannot do breathing and something else and be attentive to both. Because we don’t fall down from breathing and doing something else, we don’t notice that we are splitting our attention in two. Many well-meaning meditation guides do not notice it either and build failure into their step-by-step how-tos. When our minds start wandering, we wonder what is wrong with us. The answer is: nothing; the method may need adjustment.

Can you ask your how-to mentor about this? Once you accept someone as your leader of how-to meditation technology, until you have done the step-by-step technique 1000 or more times, no matter what your question, you are not qualified to understand the answer. This is not because the teacher is grand, and you are not. It’s because it takes experiential training to have a framework from which to hear and understand what you are asking. Just keep in mind that the method may include splitting your attention, the opposite of the goal. If the teacher knows, the teacher may have some other opportunity in mind. If the teacher does not know, the method may be unworthy. Hard to know, since it takes 20 years to understand the ways of a teacher.

2) Know that doing any how-to method you trust will give you wonderful benefits, so begin now. If you are taking this time to do a meditation how-to, you are certainly not robbing a bank or selling your watch to buy crack. This is good. If you are taking this special time for meditation, you are quieting the mind in some way by the nature of your preparing and beginning. And you may work through any flaw in the how-to system as a result.

CONCLUSION AND MILLION DOLLAR SECRET

The myth of meditation exists because people do not talk about meditation as a process. They talk as if monkhood or pure concentration will arrive immediately. It could, but it most likely will require long term study and work to achieve such a state. And we prefer to talk about special spiritual music, special places in which to meditate or images as tools. And we rarely talk about the glitch in the method, because we don’t realize it or we are too busy.

To simplify things and the fastest way to dispel the myth of meditation along with getting some bang for your hard-earned buck (meditation work) is to focus on the air as it enters and leaves your body.

As you take a slow breath in, watch the air as it floats up to the top of the head, then down to the groin. As you slowly breathe out, watch the air as it goes up the body and comes out the front of the head.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues or even better, write your own article and put it up on a free wordpress site (https://wordpress.com), or post it on a social media site. Share yourself.

If you need habit help, check out warriorsofweight.com/consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes it’s important to share the truth. She says,

“What I mean by the truth is something that occurs the same way over and over again. So, with meditation, when I have watched all sorts of methods be too complex for people, I am choosing to come forward and simplify what is being said. Let’s have a success experience right away. It will not be the success of trance-ing out because we have become enlightened masters in a moment (although it could go that way). For most of us, it will be the success of beginning a journey where each time we take the time to jump into the meditation process, we know it is a process and this knowledge is a joy. We become more and more relaxed and more and more comfortable with whatever we are doing, knowing that the doing is the goal.

“Take a chance, watch your breath, and have a nice day. What could go wrong? If you don’t like it, you can choose not to do it. But there should be something glorious in every day. It just could be the meditation process.

“Please write and tell me your story, especially about meditation. I will drink it up, if you do.

“Finally, let’s take overall good care of ourselves – including loving ourselves and our fellow beings at all costs – because we are always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
STANDING, SITTING OR LYING DOWN, ALONE IN A BATHROOM OR OTHER PRIVATE PLACE, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND, SLOWLY, BREATHE IN AND, SLOWLY, BREATHE OUT. OPEN YOUR EYES. DO THIS ONCE. IF YOU LIKE IT, DO IT ONCE A DAY FOR A WEEK. IF YOU LIKE IT, CONTINUE.

PARTY TIME – SAYING HELLO AGAIN – FEELING GOOD – OUT OF DANGER – MARCH 8, 2016

Dear Everyone,

It’s doing well Diane Gold, 1000% better than last time I wrote. I wanted to say hello again, thank you for reading my last issue, and let you know I am feeling good. Breathing normally and strong. Still and forever living each moment as it comes. Don’t know why I’m better; don’t know why I was sick. Lovin’ it and grateful.

Lots of love always. May you have good fortune and love today,

Doing Well D

Diane Gold of WarriorsOfWeight.com

PARTY TIME – SAYING HELLO AGAIN – FEELING GOOD – OUT OF DANGER ~
ISSUE 204 ~ MARCH 8, 2016
By Diane Gold

Party Time is the best way I can express my attitude about what has happened to me. When I wrote my last article, it was to say hello with the probability that I would not be able to write again. As the universe would have it, here I am again, grateful and feeling great today.

BACKGROUND

I believe every day is a cause for Party Time. But, I more deeply agree with that now.

In August, I began speeding, feeling as if my body were shaking inside as if my adrenal glands were going crazy or my image of that, since I am not sure I really know what that feels like. It started out to be a level 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst and increased all of a sudden to about a 6. I was learning to live with that feeling since I thought it was a new part of me.

During Christmas break, my daughter and I went to the movies, where we climbed 3 flights of stairs finally to get a seat in the very top row, my favorite. I got completely out of breath; it took, at least, 30 minutes of concentrated effort for me to catch my breath. I wasn’t normal, but I seemed to be able to breathe fairly well. I had never felt like this before.

The entire second half of my visit (with one of my two favorite people in the world) was an exercise in learning how to cope with a new level of lung capacity. A few days later, after packing my car and climbing the stairs again back up to my daughter’s, I got out of breath instantly, and had to sit for, at least, an hour. I went home determined to investigate what was happening. Yikes!

I made some medical appointments but they each had waiting periods, due to our health care system’s method of scheduling. While going through this period where the medical appointments were in the future, my breathing became so seriously limited that I ended up in the ER twice in a 7 day period. We all don’t know what is ahead, but it felt as if my time were short. Because I went to an ER without having had an internist admit me (boo hoo, still looking for Dr. House: http://ezinearticles.com/?Looking-For-Dr-House:-Finding-A-Diagnostician,-Part-I&id=5572902) and order specific lung tests, all the staff did was make sure I was not having a heart attack. I appreciated that very much, but not going deeper into my difficulty breathing did not help me. I was comforted that my heart was stable and appreciate the work of everyone involved.

I have to take the time to talk about the good that came out of this, since that is what I do. So here I go.

BENEFIT 1: REACHING OUT

I reached out to my kids. There were there for me and both arrived to hug me. My daughter, an animal doctor, even did an entire medical synopsis of my abnormal tests to make it foolproof for doctors to have an historical look at me from the inside since they would never read the 500 pages of reports and tests I had with me. My son made it all better by coming to tell me it would be all right. If you’ve ever met my son, you believe him instantly.

I reached out to my friends. They were there.

I told my cousins whom I see once a year or once every thirty years. They cared.

I reached out to all of you, and I got much love and appreciation back. Ah, the joy.

I am convinced that we, the people, like to reach back. All we need is for someone to be on the other end. When we reach, we will experience people who reach back, most of the time. This seems to work with strangers as well as familiars. So many of us are nurses, teachers and counselors who spend their lives reaching back and reaching out, whether we have those job titles or just take on those roles.

BENEFIT 2: FEELING FREE

When I reached out, it meant I was talking about what was happening to me. The interaction was liberating. Not that I was hiding or keeping my health to myself before. But I have good friends I love who are better talkers than they are listeners. I usually limit what I share with them about my health. Especially because some of them will only wonder how they will survive without me, and, this time, when I was sick, I could not help them with that dilemma because I was busy drawing my next difficult breath.

But I opened up to everyone, and everyone opened up back.

Having to share that, all of a sudden, my breathing capacity felt like 5 out of 10 or 3 out of 10, when, the day before, I was a picture of health, was not my favorite thing to do. But, I wanted to say one last hello. By sending my article to you saying hello one last time, I experienced a freedom that was a true gift. Thanks. Then I was able to open up to everyone else, and it was good.

THE TURNAROUND

I had started using inhalers as per the pulmonologist in Miami, while awaiting a pulmonology appointment at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Before, Jacksonville, I had a nuclear medicine test to search for abnormal serotonin secretion in the body, which might indicate tumors. Either the day before I got my good result or the day after, my speeding stopped and my breathing normalized. Some think the symptoms were only in the mind. I think not. But they are gone as of this writing, who knows for how long!

When I got to Jacksonville, the pulmnologist said he didn’t know if the inhalers were doing anything and suggested I stop. This made me chuckle since most doctors (including the one in Miami) err on the side of recommending continued usage for no reason rather than stopping medication that may be useless. True, in this case, the doc in Miami only met me when I was in crisis. So, she felt compelled to prescribe. I think she always does, though. But, I liked it that the doc in Jacksonville (very hunky) suggested that my recovery and inhaler use may have been completely coincidental. And he advised that I stop using the one I had left.

CONCLUSION: NEW VISION

Although I always take each day as a new experience and know that every day I awaken in good health, I am lucky; now, I see with clearer vision.

I know how it feels to be short of breath, a condition that changes the ability to function. Hearts out to everyone’s lungs. May they respire, work well and flourish!

Hey, we never know, but looks like I have some time. Wowie! So, it’s party time for me, and I am reaching out to share my good news. Having time is a relative term and can change in a moment. For now, I am here, breathing normally, not speeding and doing well.

Fantastic! Whoopie! Yay! Awesome! All right!
Party Time – I Wish You Bluebirds I wish you bluebirds in the spring, and I still love you all.

ACTION STEPS

1) Every day you wake up, rejoice within the first 5 minutes.

2) Every day, within the first 5 minutes of waking, decide to replace one non-vegetable thing you eat with a leafy green vegetable.

3) Every day, reach out to a stranger. That person is your sister or brother. If you don’t have the time and do have the money, pay a college intern or a social worker to do it for you.

If you wish to share your story, leave it as a comment under an article at http://warriorsofweight.com/issues. or even better, write your own article and put it up on a free wordpress site (https://wordpress.com), or post it on a social media site. Share yourself.

If you need habit help, check out WarriorsOfWeight.com Consulting.

Know that you can reach out to a fellow human, probably to the person right next to you. If that interaction works out poorly, do it again. It’s worth it, since most people are nice and want to connect with you.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can comment on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, has been a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, has been a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and has been certified in plant-based nutrition.

She believes people are good, great even and that they are ready to reach you when you put out your hand. She says,

“Life is still not forever, but I am feeling healthy now. When we are at the precipice of life, everything is different. Now that I am back from the brink, for many days, I hope, the impact of that brink is fading. My gratitude is not and remains high.

“Thinking I had one week to live and being here now able to function well, is a gift. Girl, do I love gifts.

“Let’s live in the moment because the moment is here now, and that is miraculous.”

“Please write and tell me your story. I will drink it up, if you do.

“Finally, let’s take overall good care of ourselves – including loving ourselves and our fellow beings at all costs – because we are always worth it.”

EXERCISE OF THE WEEK:
RATHER THAN SIDESTEPPING BAD ENERGY, IF WE CAN’T HELP THE EMITTER TURN THE BAD INTO GOOD, LET’S PUT OUT DOUBLE THE GOOD ENERGY SO THAT THE NEGATIVE STUFF GETS ABSORBED AND THE GOOD STUFF GETS TO LINGER.

HEALTH CARE MISTAKES: OUR BIGGEST ONE (ISSUE 171) MARCH 24, 2015

By Diane Gold

Health care mistakes: our biggest one is not being preventive, a topic very dear to my heart. The topic has been in my purview for some time. The rumblings of this article began with a simple conversation.

THE CONVERSATION

Harvey, a near and dear friend, and I were having this conversation, that I started, about being tested for vitamin, mineral, phytochemical levels. We did not decide to debate the topic; it evolved so innocently but actually spelled out the way many people in America look at medicine: from the diagnostic perspective.

I said that I thought a primary care physician’s job was to make certain the patient’s systems were in balance and that it was necessary to test whether a person’s nutritional intake was adequately fulfilling the needs of the body. And to discover if there were any imbalances, which would take extensive study; though not always accurate, we could have vitamin, mineral and phytochemical testing. And, as many specialists I have spoken with agree, we shouldn’t have to beg for these tests.

OUR BIGGEST MISTAKE

Harvey replied that when we go to the primary care doctor, we get tests done based on our diagnosis. He also mentioned that Medicare (which he and I both began within the year) only pays for tests that match our diagnoses.

I told him that this is the biggest mistake in all our healthcare system and that I consider it ludicrous. If we believe, and by we, I mean the physicians and dieticians who treat us, that we are asked to get sick and have a diagnosis before looking for weaknesses of which blood is a somewhat good predictor; we are propagating a disease care system, not a health care system. If we believe that it’s important to act well, sleep well, eat well, think well, move well, drink well and measure the result; we will prevent diagnoses often.

HOW TO CORRECT THE MISTAKE

I said to Harvey that I wanted him to think about my view because I realized he was one of the people who was raised as a patient of a Western medical system that professes to cure things through medication and intervention once an imbalance exists already.

I proposed,

1) ACTION STEP ONE

“What if we were to test our vitamin-mineral-phytochemical levels on a regular basis! We would confirm that we were eating well or that we would be wise to adjust a way of eating our nutrients through our daily routine of eating well.”

2) ACTION STEP TWO

(This is a What If Scenario, not because I support the way Big Pharma acts, but because it is powerful, organized, competent.)

Another suggestion to the world is to include Big Pharma to help spread the word about the importance of measuring and testing nutritional levels. Could we pay it to make everyone aware that it’s good health care to monitor nutrition through testing and have insurance pay for the tests?

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Since Big Pharma makes such a huge sum from drugs, many of which could be eliminated by nutrition; Big Pharma is not going to come along happily, unless paid. The government won’t regulate it because political campaigns run on its dollars. And its sister and brother (mostly brother) board members in Big Media, Big Petro-Chem, Big Agro, Big Food, Big Data, Big University, Big Finance would be affected and growling, too.

So, please someone who is brilliantly creative; use my scenario and develop a strategy to satisfy the monetary gap so we can use Big Pharma to fix our health care system.

The best creatives for this fix could actually be TV script writers, some of the most creative minds in the bunch.

3) ACTION STEP THREE

Finally, Western doctors have not been trained in the importance of doing preventive tests. They are trained to find a pre-existing condition. Their understanding has been reinforced by the fact that they know that any insurance system works on the disease model and each doctor is monitored for the tests s/he orders by how well they match the diagnoses that exist. Let’s change nutritional education in medical schools. And one way to do that is to employ ACTION STEP 2) which includes Big Pharma, where we give Big Pharma a reason not to hide nutritional findings.

BACKGROUND

In medical school, much funding comes from pharmaceutical companies, meat. There are also connections to meat, fish and dairy concerns, petro-chemical/pesticide companies, including bioengineering seed companies. What’s important about this is these companies want to sell their products. They want to make a good impression on soon-to-be-doctors who will be advocating care for the goodness of their future patients.

The industries mentioned above know that if they make donations to medical schools, including private donations from board members; school provosts will be more likely to keep industry information out of coursework.

School administrators, required to hunt down the almighty dollar for survival, may also allow industry donors to run seminars for doctors and medical students that are favorable to themselves. In fact, these companies control some of the slant on disease management (intervention) vs. health care management (prevention) by making it clear that their donations depend upon the school’s advocating their positive image.

Also interesting is that pharmaceutical reps as well as other company advocates are wooing medical students even before they graduate. The pharmaceutical budget donates most of the continuing education conferences for already graduated doctors, and, much as we think we are objective, we are wooed by those who buy us gifts.

THE TRUTH

At this time, Big Pharma does not emphasize disease prevention because it wants us to buy pharmaceuticals to contribute to its livelihood. It’s not that Big Pharma is heartless. But, in order to continue developing monumental drugs that can lengthen lives, of which there are many, and enhance life quality through various combinations of chemicals; the industry thinks it has to blind us rather than educate us.

The truth is, as I see it, that if Big Pharma were tasked to educate us properly, we would all do well. We would still need some of their life-lengthening drugs currently under development, and we could pay the industry for its expertise in marketing, management and an ally in the corporate jungle. We just couldn’t pay as much as they currently make.

INCENTIVIZING BIG PHARMA TO HELP WITH PREVENTION

Let me point out, again, that this is a what if scenario and something to think about or from which to create (rather than criticize).

Since Big Pharma’s marketing machine is in place, we could use it for good. Instead of working against an already built corporatocracy, why not figure out a way to subsidize it for helping to market preventive care in place of disease care with the money we save through the nutritional secrets that are revealed! Here’s why this philosophy could be beneficial to all of us.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, in 2010, Americans spent $20.4 billion dollars on prescription drugs for hypertension (about half of all treatment for hypertension). Let’s say Big Pharma or some independent concern, discovers a natural blood pressure fix, such as chewing turmeric root for 5 minutes a day; we can lower our blood pressure to (low) normal range.

If Big Pharma publicized this, freely and nurturingly, potentially it would be reducing its income by $20.4 billion dollars per year, since everyone could go chew turmeric instead of taking blood pressure lowering meds. In order to incentivize Big Pharma to disclose this nutritionally beneficially evidence; it needs to be given a supplement for its sacrifice. The turmeric association’s making an additional $750 million dollars is so very little compared to the cost of drugs, so any commission the turmeric growers could give to Big Pharma would be a small incentive.

The amount we save on health care, as a nation, would be significant. I do not have a statistic at this point, but I do know that the amount the government saves on sickness might leave room for the government to incentivize Big Pharma. If in 2010, we spent $42.9 billion on blood pressure sickness (according to AHRQ and according to the CDC in 2011, we spend $46 billion dollars), and we used turmeric instead of medicine; we would reduce spending of $20.4 billion on drugs and spend half a million on turmeric therapy. If the government gave 50% of its part of the $20.4 billion dollars being saved to Big Pharma, we might have an actual reality.

CONCLUSION

Health care mistakes are related to who benefits from what. We all want to lead a good life. This includes making enough money, being healthy and feeling abundant within ourselves.

Imagine if we had the powerful corporatocracy working to evolutionize health care system. Now, that would be something. The bottom line here is that we deserve to be able to test our nutritional values. If doctors, insurance companies, drug companies and all the other related industries that are part of the machine made just as much money from prevention as from sick care; we would be well on our way to honesty, integrity and removing health care mistakes, the biggest one.

Let us put our heads together, and think on how we can make this work. The example here is only food for thought. Much research and discussion is needed to find the most viable solutions to wellness. If we start today, we will have begun. Let’s take this health care mistake and convert it to health care strategy where we all win.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

If you need habit help, go to warriorsofweight-consulting.

FEEDBACK

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Please leave a comment below.

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Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution, habit replacement and certified in plant-based nutrition.

She is always imagining a better way for us to serve ourselves health. She says,

“I come up with ideas that show how a particular infrastructure might work, in hopes that someone else will be able to build on my idea with a better idea that can create symbiosis for the world.

“I’m always looking for ways to improve the health care systems. In the meantime, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

BALANCE IN OUR LIVES (ISSUE 168) MARCH 3, 2015

By Diane Gold

Balance in our lives seems like a “played out” expression, verbal hype that marketers, coaches or therapists (sometimes hard to tell them apart until we look at their wall) use to lure us into buying their coaching programs. But the reason so many people seek out the programs (like warriorsofweight-consulting), even if advertising leads us to them, is that many of us don’t have a system that works.

THE BALANCE FORMULA

I believe that we each need some sort of balance formula, a set of categories within our systematic approach to living our best life. For me, today, I have included:
1)   body-mind rest and renewal, without which we are not good to ourselves or others;
2)   support and love from family and friends, without which we stagnate;
3)   a satisfying way to be creative, without which we leave our artist untapped;
4)   a satisfying way to self-sustain, without which we are less productive (please note that not everyone needs to have a job or career; some choose to trade services; others choose adventures other than the regular work model);

5)   something spiritually rooting, without which we look for a root;

6)   non-chemical, non-polluting nutrition, which means without plastic and metal leaching from cookware and dishware, which means no genetic modification in the seeds, which means no type of food that causes global depletion (such as methane run off from livestock, dead zones from overfishing, soil depletion and desertification of land from animal grazing in dairy farms or cattle ranches) which leaves us with organic plant-based food;
7)   ethics, music, art, without which we are not whole human beings;
8)   joyful physical activity, without which we do not stimulate our body’s systems to stay healthy.

Which ones of mine are yours?

PLEASE NOTE

This formula does not include shelter and clothing, although these are quite necessary. It also does include something spiritual which does include self-esteem and other things that do not have to do with our physical nature. It is a general outline.

Suffice it to say there is no one right way or best way. I prefer this way, you prefer that way, she prefers a completely different way and he prefers a combination of yours and hers. The idea is to have one, or, at least, think about developing one. It’s handy, not too tough to create and comes in, oh, so handy, on a daily basis.

We may have heard someone say,

“I’m missing something,”

or

“I feel like there’s a hole inside me.”

Even the expression,

“I have to get myself together,”

means a gathering of behaviors, reactions and choices so that we more clearly live our best vision of and for ourselves and others at that point in time and onward.

We all feel, at least, a little as if we have to make some adjustment at one time or other. It’s part of the process we go through where we reshuffle ourselves to become more (here comes the word again) in balance, where we make personal changes to become more supportive of our goals and ourselves.

THE WHEEL OF BALANCE

We can almost think of the formula as a wheel of balance with each category a spoke. What I would put in as the categories that we need to balance life are these. As I said before, each of us may differ; although, we, humans, are not all that different and most of us would include these in our list.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS: OUR ACTION STEP

Now that we have an infrastructure, a framework, an outline from which to work; we can decide what to keep, what to add, what to omit. So let’s self-evaluate, slowly, consistently and on a continual basis. Once we get ourselves in balance, we change. And we actually do change daily. So, it would make sense to go through this process frequently to see whether the balance in our lives required major or minor tailoring.

A good example might be for us to look at an aircraft in the wind. Whether it’s a hang glider or a jet, as the wind changes, which it does continually, the pilot makes changes to accommodate it, from mini-changes all the way up to rerouting or not flying.

This adjustment is something we should look at daily. It will serve us well.

CONCLUSION

The balance in our lives is really a process. It’s not one place we obtain and stay. As with the wind, there are always new goals, new conditions, new feelings, new advantages, new obstacles for which or from which to adapt.

Whether we compromise to accommodate a loved one or change a spiritual outlook or activity; it is important to include the entire assortment. In the meantime while each person is figuring out balance in our lives, the outline above is a starting point.

ANOTHER NOTE

I always say I am a better editor than I am a writer. In seeing the balance in our lives wheel, above, I immediately began to edit it. But, when we put too many things in, we get lost in the weeds.

So this is good for now. I’m sure tomorrow, I will see something new because I will be new. And so will you.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

If you need habit help, go to warriorsofweight-consulting.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement, certified in Whole-Foods Plant-Based Nutrition.

She believes that small, consistent changes in our lives mount to ever improving quality of life improvements. She says,

“If we are consistent and relaxed, we will make ourselves more fluid, more powerful, more meaningful, more healthy than the day before.

“We each look at life from a different perspective. Most of us require similar things, though: love from other people, creativity, productivity, music, art, fitness and a way to make some sort of difference. We each decide how to balance ourselves.

“And, then, there’s the great opportunity. We can make changes at any time. As we feel the need, we change to support our own balance.

“In the meantime, let us all take good care of ourselves, because we are so worth it!”