A little bit of good news in the world of climate change:
Take heart, we can do this. 💚🌎🌷🌍🌱🌏💜
Natural Health
A Better Life
This is the time of year many people make resolutions for improving their lives, or at the very least think about their lives in terms of years instead of the minute by minute perspective in which we so often live out our days. I appreciate that we have this yearly built in reminder to look at the bigger picture, make goals, to think about who we want to be and how we intend to get there, although I don’t personally feel inspired in the dead of winter to make any big changes. I struggle every January with winter’s lessons, and leave my bigger picture thinking for the warmer, brighter days of early spring. Towards the end of last year though, I heard a bit of news that I’ve been gnawing on ever since I first heard it and felt compelled to look further into it. I have to wonder, as a whole, are we even making the right New Years Resolutions?
The news item was that American life expectancy is declining, while all other comparable nations’ life expectancy continues to improve. With all our health gurus, power supplements, fitness obsessions, smart watches, and expert doctors, how are we missing the mark in such a grand way? Almost every day there is some “new finding” that gets touted on the news and social media about what to do be healthy here, for example, eat blueberries for brain health, or walk 10K steps a day, (or is it thirty minutes? Or 7,000 steps? Or is the key to moderate the intensity? Or change it every 10 days? Keto or intermittent fasting or celery juice? ) It seems so…desperate, like a person who really really wants something so badly that they grasp onto every new promise like it’s their only hope, their last life saving technique that will float them to everlasting health and happiness. If this were one person, we’d call that person neurotic, but as a nation we call it culture, and it clearly isn’t working.
This website I found has graphs which illustrate the disparities between the U.S. and comparable countries, and it is pretty astounding. The one that shocks me the most, is the amount of money Americans spend on healthcare compared to peer countries, take a look:
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/HqLAQ/
This isn’t just a healthcare problem, although I do think the American healthcare system is deeply flawed and the pharmaceutical industry is problematic at best, but it is also our food system, work culture demands, isolation and loneliness, stress of all sorts, racial and class systemic inequities, guns, and on and on. I know we can do better in all these realms because our peer nations are proving the point quite well. I don’t have any answers to overhauling all aspects of American life, but I am grateful for the statistical health organizations who track these things to make it clear that an overhaul is indeed needed. Knowledge is power after all. Let’s make real changes this year.
My wishes for you for 2024 is that wherever you are in the world, you have long-term goals defined, understand how to attain your goals, and enjoy your days while getting there.
Nature Medicine
Today I was running with my usual airpods in my ears, listening to the KEXP runcast as I like to do on my longer runs. Everything was fine for about the first mile, and then the music suddenly stopped playing and my app seemed to go into ‘searching’ mode. My first reaction was annoyance because when it comes to my runs, I lean hard into my routines. I like the way my mind can wander when I don’t have to think too hard but instead can just put one foot in front of the other on autopilot, but the annoyance didn’t last long. Almost immediately I heard geese having a loud and vivid conversation off to my right in the Juanita Bay. The sound was so calming, and as my attention had been drawn to the bay, I then noticed several black and white ducks that looked almost like puffins swimming with the usual brown and green varieties, long-necked swans in the distance, and two herons quietly standing guard and might actually have been what the geese were talking about. They were in the same general vicinity and likely eyeing the same fish beneath them.
It made me realize how often we move through the world distracted nowadays, with phones and earbuds, and how much calming nature medicine we are missing. We know that the sound of waves or rain are calming sounds, but so are bird calls, the wind whistling through trees, the crunch of footsteps on dried leaves. Nature has a plethora of calming tricks up her sleeve and we should take note. For one thing, I’ve always been struck by how many herbs and essential oils are calming. Even if the herb or essential oil has other attributes it is more known for, almost all herbs and essential oils can also be said to reduce stress and calm the mind. It makes sense that nature wants us humans to be calm, because a calm brain makes better decisions, thinks deeper, moves more gracefully, and makes connections more effectively. We live at a time when speed is often subtly or not so subtly encouraged with sayings such as, “Time is Money,” in our culture, and “Fast paced environments,” in pretty much every job description. Calm does not mean slow or sluggish, it means not distracted or stressed out, but somehow it all gets lumped together in our jumpy minds and we replace calm moments with numbing.
I suppose I’m just worried about the state of the world and how separate from nature we are willingly becoming. When I walk around it seems like 95% of people are on their phones whether they are walking around and looking down at them, driving with them on nearby, or sitting somewhere with others but yet still looking at their phones. I know people who post on social media seemingly around 5 times per day. I seriously don’t understand how they are living their lives effectively with that much social media engagement. They must exist on a different timeline than I do because I cannot work, parent, cook, clean, have friendships, keep up with family, go to appointments, and not feel overwhelmed regularly much less spending countless hours on social media. It all depends on values and priorities I suppose but there are so many studies showing how disruptive distraction is in our lives, how negatively social media impacts us, and how it all relates to a dopamine cycle that puts us further and further into a dopamine chasing state. To state the obvious, if you are interested in optimal health, chasing dopamine is not in support of that goal.
I’m not really in to making New Year’s resolutions because I do more of my pattern and perspective overhauls around my birthday each year, but this seems to be calling to me as 2024 nears so I will comply. I’m going to listen to nature more from now on, especially while running. I don’t want to give up my musical runs so it’ll have to be a compromise, perhaps half of the time I’ll listen to music and half the time I’ll be present with nature’s sounds. I’ve already greatly reduced my social media use but intend to do so further. It’s just not adding value to my life, and the things I do instead of scrolling do add value, such as reading, learning languages, cooking, and just…living life.
Happy New Year and I hope you are steeped in a year that resonates with your purpose and your values. ✨
Alzheimer’s Docuseries
Here is the link to a docuseries about Alzheimer’s and how to help protect your brain health and longevity: https://scienceofprevention.com/?inf_contact_key=608657a0885e84596696bb3f1088c6851f2ce51ec8bc6ace203deddd90c8fcdf (I have no affiliation.)
It’s on day 8 with 5 more days to go, and I waited to share the link until I’d managed to watch a few to make sure they were saying informative, sound things, and they are. It’s been very reasonable and enlightening so far and I haven’t heard anything questionable or outlandish, so feel comfortable sharing the link.
Even though it’s day 8 already, the format of these docuseries is usually that they release one per day for how many episodes they have, and then after the last one airs, they release all of them for 24 to 48 hours so you can catch the ones you missed. I recommend watching the earlier episodes when that occurs because the newest to me information was the link that Alzheimer’s has with diabetes. That was explained quite well. The episode about the best diets for preventing brain decline was good too.
Happy Equinox🌞🌚
In a rare fit of fastidiousness, I looked up the sunrise and sunset times for today, hoping for the satisfaction of seeing a neat 12 hours on display, some proof of order in the midst of so much chaos. Instead I was greeted with this surprise:
It looks like the sun is already taking over the show here in the Pacific Northwest, and I can’t say I’m too disappointed by the promise of order I was unexpectedly denied. Nature is not known for timeliness, yet the grander efforts and gifts seem to always appear right on time. The earth rotates, we spin in and out of darkness and light, the seeds beneath us somehow know when to peek out, the trees bud, the birds chirp, and the bunnies are born. It’s spring here and we once again have our turn at renewal, warmth, and light. What changes are you making?
Nettles are the first herb I think of when I think of spring herbs. They are known for being highly nutritious, blood building, skin clearing, and overall detoxifying. People use them in salads, pesto, soups, and tea, and they provide a ‘green’ taste that is refreshing and very spring-like. Not surprisingly, nettles are also often used to treat environmental allergies, which certainly do get triggered in the spring, just when nettles are at their peak for using. Nettles have a long history of being used as a textile as well. A fun fact I just read recently on Gaia Herb’s website is that …”during the First and Second World Wars, Nettle fiber was used as a substitute for cotton yarns, when this material was unavailable.” Herbs are amazingly versatile and I just don’t know what we’d do without them. What is your favorite spring herb?
We are so fortunate to have herbs and produce year-round in our modern lives, but there are still good reasons to eat with seasons in mind as much as possible. We evolved eating seasonally, and our bodies know best what to do with the foods that naturally surround us. In a world where rituals and connection with nature are waning, we all still need to eat, so why not add some seasonal thought to our plates? It’s reassuring to know some patterns persist despite the unending tumultuous turns of events which seem to color our days more and more. It is worth reflecting on these seasons that we are jetting through at such a fast pace, and find comfort in the truism, “some things never change”, such as the contrary nature of March:
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
-from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Whether you are experiencing the spring or fall equinox right now, I hope you are enjoying the transition and ready to make the most of the light and dark at your disposal.✨🌿🐰
Free Viewing of Series about Health
Nothing to do during this strange, timeless week between Christmas and New Year’s? If you are looking for some inspiration on how to create better routines and better health in 2022, you might like watching a few of these episodes. This series, by Nick Polizzi, is one I’ve shared once before when they first released it for free viewing. I’ve only watched a few of the episodes but those were good and I’ll try to watch more during this free viewing period. If you are interested, here’s the link or click the episodes below which all take you to the main page of the series.
Here are the episodes you can choose from (or watch them all!) before the end of December 30th, 2021 (11:59PM PT).
Episode 1 – The Hidden Root Cause Of All Disease
Episode 2 – Reversing Autoimmune Disorders & Healing Your Gut
Episode 3 – Brain Health & Restoring Cognitive Function
Episode 4 – Solving Fatigue & Insomnia
Episode 5 – Healing Heart Disease, Diabetes & Obesity
Episode 6 – Overcoming Physical Pain
Episode 7 – Healing Emotional & Physical Trauma