The word “solstice” comes from Latin, meaning “the sun stands still,” which it appears to do. This astrological phenomenon has been important to many cultures. In Persia it was viewed as the victory of light over dark. For the ancient Chinese it was a turning point where the yin qualities of darkness and cold gave…
My non-violent conviction has been a source of inner conflict lately. The US government’s conflict about the degree to which they will support Ukraine against the Russian invasion obliquely reflects my own conflict on the subject.Too much involvement could pit the US against Russia directly.While a successful invasion could lead to even wider conflict. But…
History has always been written by the conquerors or the would-be conquerors. The conquered do their best to preserve their culture and their version of history, but it’s an uphill battle. For example: For centuries China has exported the idea that the Han Chinese people are the only ethnic group who are truly Chinese. There…
The connection between these two very importantAmerican holidays tends to go unnoticed. Every individual freedom provided by our nation’s independenceis dependent on the possibility for each of us to earn a living wage. Poverty level wages give no freedom of opportunity forhousing, health care, food, clothing, or security. What is Labor Day about? If you…
Try not to think in words.Formulation in words inhibits the brain from thinking for itself. When thinking in words we think in familiar patterns,in ways we have thought, read, heard, or said sometime before.Instead, learn to think in patterns of relationships,in sensations divorced from the fixity of words. This will allow you to find the…
One of the brain’s functions is processing information.Folks considered neurodivergent process information differently than folksconsidered neurotypical. Often a neurodivergent processes some information in away which makes them challenged by society and processes other information ina remarkable way which make them uniquely valuable to society. Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes, feels the diversity of human cognitionhidden…
A 92-year-old I know has been struggling for the past 7 or 8 years with having togive up more and more of his freedom in order to maintain his independence.It’s a catch-22 that can catch up with any one of us any time, gradually or all of a sudden. Life caught up with him so…
March 2, 2022|Chronic Pain By Anita Schnee, GCFP CM Imagine body, mind, and soul in a healthy, vibrant biome, each element at home in its fitting habitat. Then imagine a biome desiccated by old anguish, every green thing devoured by battalions of locusts. This is the chronic pain biome at its worst. An injury is…
Moshe Feldenkrais was born in 1904 in Slavuta,a town in western Ukraine controlled by the Russian Empire.He fled the Russian pogroms as a teenager andwas never able to return to an independent Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine share roots dating back millennia, but theircultures, religious foundations, and languages separated centuries ago. Imperial Russia only began expanding…
I’ve been thinking about the simplicity of Ramana Maharishi’s teaching lately: If you inquire ‘Who am I?’the mind will return to its source.As you practice this more and more, the power of the mind to remain at its source increases. So I’ve been looking into my self identity, and I’m finding it’s difficult to pin…