Simply Thick, Simply Risk

By On · Add Comment · In dysphagia, FDA, necrotizing eterocolitis, simply thick, Uncategorized, warning

Listen up parents, particularly parents of preemies: if you’ve been giving your infant Simply Thick to help with swallowing, be warned that the product could increase their risk of developing a life-threatening illness. The FDA has issued a warning that 22 infants developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after being fed baby formula or breast milk mixed with Simply Thick. Seven of them died.

The product is used for children that have difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), and although a direct link to NEC has not been yet confirmed, authorities do want to put parents, caregivers and healthcare practitioners on high-alert.

NEC is generally seen in premature infants where portions of the intestinal tissue goes through necrosis or tissue death. The FDA, however, has extended the warnings to all infants being fed the formula thickener. And parents should be on the lookout for NEC symptoms, which include a bloated stomach, greenish vomit, bloody stools and lack of interest in feeding.

According to Dr. Ari Brown, a pediatrician Austin, Texas, and co-author of Baby 411, if reflux and spitting up continues to be an issue, parents do have other options. “They can try doing smaller, more frequent feedings; keeping infants upright for at least 20 minutes after eating; and placing them at a 30 percent incline for sleeping,” she said. “In severe cases, your pediatrician may prescribe medication to help treat.”

And to ease some worries, Dr. Brown adds, “If you’ve already stopped using the product for a while and your baby seems fine, there’s no need to worry.”

Just some food for thought here, but Formula feeding increases the risk of NEC by tenfold compared to infants who are fed breastmilk alone. Breast milk protects the premature infant not only by its antiinfective effect and its immunoglobulin agents but also from its rapid digestion. For women that do not produce breastmilk, human milk from a milk bank or donor can be used. I am a big proponent of using human milk over formula, and this latest news is just another reason why. Am I implicating Simply Thick before all the information is in? No, just stating my belief that the human body knows better than man’s educated, and often arrogant mind. Again, just food for thought. Be safe.

No Mistakes in the Matrix: Book Review for Counterpoint to Reality

By On · Add Comment · In book review, counterpoint to reality, matrix, Spirit, stephen john o'conner, synchronicity


Life is an interesting phenomenon if you actually take the time to think about it. Every one of us has taken life for granted at one time or another, but when one really contemplates life’s nuances, the seemingly paradoxical chaos and order inherent in the universe can be a rather perplexing notion.

Take synchronicity for example: “Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, but that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner. This concept was first described by the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung.”

Those lines come from a book I have just recently finished called Counterpoint to Reality by Stephen John O’Conner; and my reading it has been just as much a result of synchronicity as the various stories O’Connor uses to illustrate the concept in his book. He and I actually met serendipitously on Twitter, which I am sure is no surprise to anybody who knows me, as it’s a dimension I am prone to frequent. But what is interesting—as Counterpoint does so well to point out—is that in life there are simply no mistakes. This also happens to be my philosophy; so it appears, then, that I was destined to read this work, and also to share it with you.

Let me be upfront and say that I really didn’t think I was going to like this book at first. As I began reading, some of my own views became challenged. For example, many of O’Connor’s stories are of the “spooky forces” type, which are not really my cup of tea. It’s not that I would describe myself as the staunch materialist by any means, but I am wary of any Light Force/Dark Force interplay. But wait! Don’t let that discourage you because, much to my surprise, Counterpoint went way beyond that. What really made the book worthwhile in the end was the beauty in which the author lays out a universal philosophy. He did as good a job as I’ve come across to explain some of the bigger questions that every human being ponders at one time or another: who we are, where we come from, and why we are here…you know, fundamental life stuff.

If I were to describe my life’s philosophy, I would describe it as a sort of vitalistic existentialism; or in plain English: we are more than just material beings operating through neurochemical processes. We are a part of an energetic matrix, and as such, we vibrate rhythmically at varying frequencies, which act to guide us through life—a quantum physical homing mechanism, if you will. We have a certain amount of control over these vibrations, which, in turn, helps us to attract various things into our lives, like people, situations and experiences. And, ultimately, our lives come down to how we perceive the universe, and life itself.

Saying that, I was amazed at how much I resonated with the overall message and philosophy of Counterpoint. Not that I don’t expect others to share in my view—on the contrary, I am certain that people do, as I know many personally—but that it would be expressed so eloquently by someone who has had such a dramatically different life experience than me was really a pleasant surprise.

O’Connor’s life story, as it turns out, is anything but boring; so Counterpoint is worth reading, if even just to enjoy a fascinating ride through one man’s life lived through a quest to find meaning. From a professional music career, to cavorting with American expat dregs, to participating in several psychedelic mind-expanding Ayahuasca ceremonies, O’Connor thrills us at every turn with tales of his spiritual journey.

But, again, it was the wisdom, and philosophy, inherent in his story that held the most intrigue for me. Consider his description of The Path, as the life journey has been called by so many spiritual disciplines:

There is a Path. It’s not outside of us. There is no one who can truly guide us into that Path or help us along its way. There’s also no time limit for making the journey and there’s no one to blame for not finding and walking this Path. After all, we are seemingly alone, not physically, but spiritually. Each of our individual journeys is unique. We travel the Path in silence and with the help only from our inner guides and guardians. There are, however, helpful road signs everywhere. There are tools being made available to us constantly if only we can become aware of them. Often, when we least expect it, a phrase or comment is made that awakens us and stirs a level of consciousness that was unavailable only moments before. Books, movies and magazine articles are seemingly filled with gems of wisdom hidden stories that begin to raise feelings not normally within our patterning. On this journey, there is help and guidance waiting for us.

Precisely. As O’Connor explains toward the end of the book there is no “one way.” Everybody has to find their own, and many Paths can actually be taken. It certainly says a lot about the senselessness of religious conflict, and the often fervent drive to prove one way to be better than all others. And it gives the reader hope; hope that as he or she tunes-in to the universal matrix, guide-posts can and will be uncovered along the way. This has certainly been my experience, and in-line with the concept that inspiration is sometimes transmitted to us from sources we’d never expect. That is tapping into the Matrix.

He discusses universalism—our unity with all things—a concept taught by various philosophers and eastern religions throughout the ages. And he makes the connection to the power we all have within us to be the creators of our own destiny, which is something I so adamantly push in my own writings. Says O’Conner:

We can all reconnect with the deep source of everything. There is hope that we can reconnect and then be a conscious part of creation; that we can be creators of a mind-conscious world filled with real peace and real love.

He also discusses karmic debt, as well as the concept that our souls make prearrangements with other souls to interact and evolve in a parallel fashion. Captivating stuff!

And to my intellectual delight, he discusses the source where inspiration comes from: an information pool that permeates the universe, and from which individuals who have tapped-into this universal resource can download, if you will. He calls this information matrix the akashic records, a theosophical concept denoting a “compendium of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physical plane of existence,” (from Wikipedia) not unlike the Noosphere, as proposed by Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin, the realm of all human thought. Anyone who has ever contemplated where creative genius comes from will find this information fascinating.

But best of all for me, I think, and I am certain you will agree, is O’Connor’s description of what occurs during meditation. I really couldn’t have asked for a better explanation, as to not only how one may shut off the incessant mind-chatter that every novice meditator struggles with, but also as to what one may expect when entering the Void—that abstract realm of nowhere-ness and everywhere-ness, where the ME of the ego discovers the I of actuality.

I loved O’Connor’s ability to vividly describe this realm, the “other” aspect of human consciousness that has led humans to conceptualize a something-more-than-just-physical reality:

After 45 minutes, I was instantaneously projected to a place I can only describe as being in the Void. There was total silence and peace. A magnificent emptiness enveloped me, if I can even say there was a me to be enveloped. I was nowhere and everywhere at once. I experienced the feeling that there was no time.

Finally, and the real reason I connected with O’Connor and agreed to read Counterpoint (or so I thought), was his account of attending numerous Ayahuasca ceremonies. I will admit that I have had an overwhelming curiosity to experience this sacred South American psychedelic substance (although O’Connor does not describe it that way, at least not in terms of what we generally associate with psychedelics, like LSD or psilocybin/magic mushrooms). Used by indigenous people of the Amazon for divinatory and healing purposes, Ayahuasca contains the psychoactive substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), that work synergistically to give the psychedelic, or shall we say, mind-expanding experience.

I chuckle to myself as I explain my so-called rationale behind reading this book, because, again, as O’Connor points out, rarely is the connection of souls along the Matrix a random event. He even remarked to me on one of our first exchanges that, “There’s more to the book than just Ayahuasca.” But in truth, that’s what I really went in wanting to explore.

I was delighted, then, to find both a serious and modern philosophical manuscript in Counterpoint to Reality. Although I have described some of my favorite points of the book, I have really only touched on a small portion of what you’ll find inside. I thus highly recommend picking up Stephen John O’Connor’s first literary gem, Counterpoint to Reality, as I am certain you will find it as enjoyable and enlightening as I have.

I will allow the author to sum up what I found to be the main theme of the book, which he explains so eloquently:

I find it interesting that the Path, or should I say the Path of No Paths is already in play when we are born. The moment we step upon the stage of a new life we enter the Path. Every step we take, every action we perform changes and molds the Path bringing more opportunities to grow toward the Light. Although one can read and research the Masters who have gone before and gain wisdom from their experiences, it’s up to each of us to walk the Path of our own very special journey back to Light. You are on it right now! You have always been on it. Turn it into something that brings joy and love instead of pain and suffering. Use your ability to choose, your ability to create your destiny to shape the path into a positive and healthy form.

Yes, bravo! There are truly no mistakes within the Matrix. And so I resonated with that concept as I took to reading this thoughtful, and often hysterical, account of O’Connor’s journey. I know now, with no doubt whatsoever, that I was destined to read this book; and I am grateful that I can recommend it with five stars to anybody ready to take the plunge into a pool of universal wisdom. Thank you, Mr. O’Connor, for the Path your Soul chose to follow. Through it all you uncovered much wisdom regarding life and the magnificence of the universal Matrix, and your readers can now benefit from your journey by gaining a little insight into their own.

 

I Didn’t Win or Lose, I Grew

By On · Add Comment · In Mind

They are like dreams or flowers in air:  foolish to try to grasp them.

Gain and loss, right and wrong:  such thoughts must finally be abolished at once.

~ Hsin Hsin Ming (606AD)

Two years ago I was embroiled in a vicious lawsuit that started to turn me sour. I was freaked out by the majority of it, but particularly by the financials, as the costs really began to soar. The amount of time and work I had invested had become overwhelming. It involved another professional, someone with whom I had a history, and not a particularly good one, either. Obvious or not, we were in a lawsuit against each other, and so the bad blood was flowing.

This piece is about a universal truth—that there is no gain or loss in the universe. As an ancient principle, understood by the Zen masters, it is backed today by the known physical laws. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy in a closed system (the universe) can neither be created nor destroyed—it can only transform. It is called a conservation law, because along with mass, momentum, angular momentum and charge, we recognize that certain properties of the universe remain invariable.

Another physical principle relevant to our discussion today is mass-energy equivalence. Made famous by the equation E=mc2, it states that mass and energy are interchangeable—each one a property of the other. In other words, all things that have mass also contain energy, and all things energetic have a particle equivalent. These two principles are at the root of what I wish to convey: You can never lose a thing. All mass and energy are conserved in the universe—therefore, loss is an illusion.

Seeing the Other Side

When we perceive that we have lost something, we are simply not seeing the other side. We become blind—or ignorant—to the gain portion of the equation; in other words, we don’t see where we are gaining. This ignorance actually keeps us down—it keeps us stagnant. If we were to just look hard enough, bearing in mind the law of conservation, and thus, that the other side must exist—we would eventually find it. And as a result, we would grow. The Ancient Chinese called it Tao or “The Way”…and within it lay the understanding that gain and loss are just illusions.

Most of us come to the realization, over time, that “all was not lost.” For some of us, we have to stretch the imagination to pretend like we haven’t lost that much, yet I would argue that this approach is still operating within the perspective of gain-and-loss. The real power comes from seeing the two sides present in the moment, during the chaos and the uncertainty. If successful, the end-result is expansion—of our character, of our mind, and of our spirit. Believe me, it’s worth the effort to look.

During my own dilemma, I was stressed out because I believed that I was losing a load of money (the bills were in the tens of thousands). Also, things were getting down and dirty—I saw more of the dark side of the legal world than had I ever imagined, or cared to, and was resentful because it was a lesson that I wasn’t actively seeking.

And the time! I had invested long hours compiling paperwork and helping put together the details of the case; it was not insignificant, especially since I had a thriving chiropractic practice to run, and my business was getting busier by the day.

The Balance

Then it hit me—my business is getting busier every day. Wait…I knew the principle…I just wasn’t applying it. No gain, no loss…where was the transformation? Well, my practice had picked up massively since the start of the case, and I was earning far more than the lawsuit was costing (I paid the difference in pain, if you’re wondering about the balance).

I kept looking. Oh yes, I was also experiencing far fewer problems with insurance companies, dissatisfied clients or staff; in fact, life at the office was unusually smooth. I kept looking: My home life had become rather tame too—no drama from mama or the girls—shoot, I couldn’t complain about any of that!

I kept looking. Well, the education I was receiving about life, about the law, and about a reality that we all have to face at one time or another—that people have conflict, and the legal system is the customary route for solving disputes (well, better than a duel, anyway), and therefore, nearly impossible to avoid—it was probably more than I could ever pick up in a book or classroom.

So even though I ended up losing the case, my business grew and so did my income; I was wiser, and thus, that much more influential, and I expanded in character and awareness—that was worth it to me, and I wouldn’t trade it for a thing. I got to see the law of conservation up close and personal, and I am convinced of its universality.

One can even change one’s awareness with regard to the perceived loss of people—but that is for another piece altogether. Just know that the first law of thermodynamics always applies—that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; no gain, no loss—and so our loved ones are all around us, all the time. It’s simply our illusions that keep us from seeing so.

Beware Tainted Ricotta Cheese (Recall)

By On · Add Comment · In listeria, listeriosis, recall, ricotta, ricotta salata cheese

Listen up Italian food lovers–federal health officials say ricotta cheese tainted with listeria bacteria has been linked to 14 illnesses including at least one death. Eleven states are reporting illnesses linked to imported Italian ricotta salata cheese distributed by Forever Cheese, Inc., of New York. Forever Cheese has issued a recall of one lot—800 wheels of ricotta salata, or roughly 4,800 pounds—on Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the cheese was distributed to retail stores in California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington between June 20 and August 9.

Listeria is rare but deadlier than well-known pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. It is most dangerous to pregnant women, the elderly and others with compromised immune systems. It causes listeriosis, which can cause sepsis or meningitis. The overt form has a mortality rate of about 20%. It can be treated with antibiotics, however. The deaths linked to this outbreak were in New York, Nebraska and possibly Minnesota, although it is uncertain if the latter two were actually caused by the listeria.

Although the tainted cheese is a ricotta, it is not the same as soft ricotta used in lasagna. The CDC says the ricotta can have up to a four-month shelf life, so some consumers may still have it in their homes. To be on the safe side, anyone having ricotta cheese lying around and of which they are unsure of its origins, it would be best to just throw it out.

Are You Living an Inspired Life or Giving in to Habitual Low Priorities?

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Do you have free will? How often do you exercise it throughout your day? If you really stop and think about it, you may realize that much of what you do is habitual—that is, a large portion of your time is spent doing routine activities. Habits are things we do regularly and often, to the point that we no longer need to think about them; they have their foundations in neurology, and specifically, within our memory.

Procedural memory is the neurological process involved in doing things. Different from declarative memory, which is knowing things—facts, figures, and trivia, for example—procedural memory works at the level of the unconscious mind. In other words, we don’t have to think too much about the processes being carried out—they become part of our neurological wiring.

Not every procedural memory process is habit, as many are simply needed for normal functioning like walking, washing or cleaning oneself, or finding and preparing food. In the modern world, it would also include things like operating machinery—cell phones, computers, cars, or for some, even flying airplanes. We learn them, and then they become a natural part of our everyday lives.

What are Habits?

Habits, however, are a subset of procedural processes, such that whatever we do often enough (not necessarily a function or common to all people) becomes lodged into our procedural memory. Consider what it was like when you first started wearing a wrist watch or a wedding ring—probably unusual at first, but then it just became habit.

And, of course, there are the obvious ‘bad’ habits, like smoking or nail biting, ones which we work so hard to break; but what we often don’t realize is that some of the ways in which we spend our time can also act as bad habits. These distractors, or ‘time killers’, actually prevent us from starting or carrying out what we would really love in life. So, if not careful, we may find ourselves living in habitual low priorities instead of within our inspired purpose.

How much of your day is spent taking part in low priority habits?

Television watching, social media, marathon texting—while each one of these may be entertaining, and maybe even serve a useful function for some, for most people, they are just distractors.

Okay, so we have all succumbed to low priority actions at one time or another—we don’t have to beat ourselves up about it. But as I asked earlier, do you think you have free will? In the sense that you have the capacity to consciously change any pattern in your life, then yes you do. Compulsive overeating, drug abuse, giving in to victim mentality—all of these are habits—and you have a choice to create different ones in your life (especially your thinking).

Creating New Habits

Creating new habits—ones aligned with your greater purpose—starts with knowing your values. If you fail to identify, and align with, your highest values, you will never connect to your life’s purpose. Without knowing what you would love in life, it’s pretty hard to establish which habits are best to serve you; so I encourage you to get in-touch with what you love the most—and don’t stress about it, because you know; just listen to your heart.

When you get in-touch with your values, you can determine which habits will serve you the best, whether that’s reading a new book every week, saving 10% of your income regularly, doing your daily yoga practice, or waking up at 5 am every morning. And it will require repetition: Anything that you do over and over again becomes lodged into your procedural memory and becomes habit over time.

I find that the best way to break old habits is by starting new ones. Listen, I’ve kicked cigarettes, and I’ve kicked drugs, so I know how to break habits; and at least one essential factor is to establish new patterns. But beware—if the new habit is not aligned with your highest values, then you won’t do it for very long, that I can assure you.

So you’ve got to start by knowing yourself. What are your highest values, and what inspires you? Being in-tune with these will make breaking old habits and starting new ones easier than you think.

We do have free will. And, although we don’t actually exercise it throughout much of our day, the ability to make decisions about how we want our lives to go is a power we all possess. Identify your highest values, and set your habits accordingly, and then watch your inspired life unfold. This is the true marvel of the human mind.

Primary Care Physicians Scarce in Some Rural Areas

By On · Add Comment · In baby boomers, health care, Medicare, nurse practitioners, oregon medical associations, primary care physicians

Don’t say I didn’t tell you, cos I remember talking about this ad infinitum over the last two years. But the medical care you knew and loved is going away. And many reading this are perfectly happy about this, but not baby-boomers retiring to rural areas. Yes, seems that primary care physicians are hard to find in many small towns, and it looks like it may worsen.

Baby-boomers, the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, could have difficulty finding doctors over the next twenty years. With Medicare cuts proposed targeted under the federal health care overhaul, the shortage is likely to get even worse, said Mark Pauly, professor of health care management at the University of Pennsylvania. Primary care physicians out in rural areas make less per procedure in the Medicare schedule than their city counterparts, and with a cut in the already small reimbursement inherent in the system, doctors are running to the city in droves. Well, no duuuuuuhhhh…….

A 2009 survey of doctors in the Oregon Medical Association showed 19.1 percent of Oregon doctors had closed their practices to Medicare, and 28.1 percent had restricted the numbers of Medicare patients.

The good news is that we knew it was coming, right? Well, there’s at least one solution–Nurse Practitioners (NP). NPs can do medical exams, prescribe some drugs, give shots, take vitals, and so forth…sort of a doctor/nurse hybrid. It’s smart, and I like it. I have worked with a few NPs, and what they  can do—their scope—along with their competency, is top-notch. It’s like an all-in-one healthcare practitioner. I have lots of respect for NPs.

Now for you boomers who have decided to retire to rural communities, you may find that you’ll need to pay some things out of pocket. Just come to terms with that: health care is changing, and there’s no need to protest by neglecting your body. I know we all want to get what has been promised to us, and you know what…we just may, in fact, get that…but if for any reason it doesn’t go back to the way it once was, you still need your health. So take care of it, both by participating in health-enhancing behaviors (like seeing a chiropractor–also a primary care doctor, but sans prescription rights), but also by seeing your NP…hey many of them make house calls.

Listen, our old institutions are changing–in some ways for the better (like you taking a proactive approach to your health), and in others for the worse (quality will ultimately suffer, in my opinion). We’ve got to have creative solutions to these new problems–the easiest is to continue taking care of your body. But creating a self-funded medical account will probably be a wise move too.

Side Plank to Strengthen Shoulders and Abdominal Core

By On · Add Comment · In abdominal core, exercise, exercises, proprioception, rectus abdominis, shoulders, side plank

Happy to be back from a much needed hiatus. I’m hoping you have been exercising, particularly planking. Planking seems to be a new-ish craze, despite it’s ancient yogic roots; and of this I am pleased, because if there’s gonna be a craze, may as well be something as powerful for your health and body as plank pose.

So this post is to show you the next level of plank pose, which is the side-plank. Remember that plank pose is an outstanding strengthener for the abdominal core–EMG studies have shown it to be one of the strongest contractions of the rectus abdominis muscle–so if you want a strong core and cut mid-section, then definitely plank, baby.

Side plank is similar, but now the difficulty is increased by going up on one arm and balancing. The transition from plank to side plank alone is a powerful strengthener, because you are taking a static position and now adding movement. It’s what we call “functional”- ity. Along with strengthening the core,both the plank and side plank will also strengthen the shoulders. Balancing on one arm adds proprioception to the mix, and thus you get an all around great challenger for the core and shoulder girdle. Yes, this should be a craze.

Watch the video below to get a glimpse on how to transition from a plank pose to a side plank…and then plank away, baby.

The Biggest Conflict

By On · Add Comment · In Life

conflict (Copy)The biggest conflict lies in the desire to not have conflict. More than a part of life, conflict is a way of life. Everything from cells to stars must endure it, as conflict is necessary for all growth. Trying to avoid conflict is futile. Instead, by understanding its benefits, you can use conflict to your great advantage, by stepping beyond your comfort zones, and growing in wisdom and influence.

Conflict is important to biological systems as the driver of evolution. But it works much the same in our daily lives, helping us step into the next stage of experience and understanding. As conflict moves through its arc of tension and resolution, it ultimately opens us up to a new perspective. This leap in consciousness happens repeatedly throughout our lifetime, demonstrating a continued spiritual expansion, which often appears independent of the mind, but in reality, can be controlled by the way we use our mind, and much more than by merely thinking alone.

Internal Conflict

It’s easy to forget sometimes that conflict isn’t just between people and the outside world, it happens most often internally. Conflict is a part of our everyday decision making process, so something as simple as what to have for dinner can render some people batty. This is the mind at work. Most of us can’t stop the process—it’s a necessary component of the psyche meant to keep us authentic.

Although inner struggle can at times be painful, some have learned to become Zen with it; some have even come to like it. A good fight every now and again is good for the soul, and why not? Conflict has its advantages: It leads to resolution, self-awareness, discovery of new boundaries, and the removal of fear. At the very least, it takes us to the next stage of development, whether personal or professional—we need conflict to create and expand.

In the end, you can’t get away from it even if you tried—and why would you want to? It would be impossible to survive, let alone thrive without the internal function of conflict to guide you. By knowing and understanding your highest values—the drivers of your decision making process—you can turn those moments of inner conflict into a guiding mechanism to move you toward your higher purpose.

Many people do not tune-in to their values on a conscious level, so they often find making decisions difficult, and then they are prone to living their lives according to the values of others. By being in-tune with your values, you’ll make decisions easier and overcome conflict because you’ll be driven by your purpose. Just follow one simple rule: Stay true to your values and base your decisions on what brings you closest to fulfilling them.

External Conflict

So what about conflicts we have with people? Well we need those, too. Every aspect of life is governed by conflict—it’s called having “problems.” We are problem-solvers, in essence. Show me a life with no problems, and I’ll show you a cadaver. Without problems, we would have nothing to work out and life would have no meaning. Think about how families, organizations and cities operate—governments and political systems as well—isn’t conflict what takes center stage every four years in America? Conflict builds civilizations, and the Wall Street Occupiers are simply one incarnation of this evolutionary principle in action.

Just as with internal conflict, growth would be virtually impossible without external problems for us to solve. These can prove tricky, however, because dealing with others can turn things into a game of wills, which can slow progress and increase stress. But as clichéd as it may sound, the best approach to external conflict is to look for win-win situations. This can only be accomplished by understanding both your and your adversary’s highest values, and then attempting to reach a center point. This is the most effective path to resolution, when both parties feel comfortable that their values are being met. At the very least, if a resolution is not reached, you can both walk away knowing why you failed to compromise—you are being true to your individual values, and you simply haven’t found a way to make them intersect—for now.

Remember that conflict is inevitable—whatever problem you don’t solve today you’ll get to readdress later in the same form or a different one entirely, internally or externally. Either way, it’s best to understand the true nature and purpose of conflict than to try to avoid it. Nature will not allow that anyway. So experiencing conflict may be unavoidable, but you can ease the discomfort by tuning-into your highest values, and then using them to guide you down your evolutionary path.

The What’s and Why’s of Health

By On · Add Comment · In Body

I read and write about health every day. It’s my love. And I never stop thinking about the marvels of the human body. My research takes me into every conceivable subject revolving around health, which basically means everything. I see health all around me at all times, and I see the entire universe in the world of health. But my basic message regarding health is always the same: Health is a natural state inherent in all of us; it is directly related to the choices we make, and to our lifestyles. Our relationship to our health is as much a state of mind as a state of being; and how we think about health shapes our very expression of it.

What is Health?

What does health mean to you? Is it something grand, like a feeling of omnipotence? Does it look like, feel like or allow you to do something in particular? How do you define it? I think defining what health means to you is an important first-step in mastering your health and well being. It’s knowing the what’s and the why’s of attaining and maintaining great health that will take you the farthest.

I’ve posed the question to hundreds of people—what is health? I love the variety of responses that comes pouring out, but the answer is much simpler than most people realize: Health is the body doing what it was meant to. That’s it—nothing grander. It’s not super-humanness, or godliness or even better-than-averageness—it’s simply a properly-functioning body. That means the kidneys do what they are supposed to (eliminate wastes), the liver does what it’s supposed to (detoxify and aid digestion), and the nervous system functions the way it’s supposed to—in perfection. Now that’s health!

It’s not so much different from that of a car, even though we are not machines. We are instead moving, breathing, organic life-forms, yet the exact same principles apply to both: if you take care of your car, it will function beautifully—it will run well, burn fuel efficiently and look good in the process. But neglect it, and…well, you know what happens when you don’t change the oil…

How should you measure health, then?

I guess that comes down to what you want. Very few strive for health simply for health’s sake—many, instead, use their health as a means to an end. Whatever you decide is the why that drives you toward great health, it can be used as inspiration to push you toward the what—your health goals. Why’s can encompass anything from improved performance at a sport, to the desire to play with, or simply keep up with, your children. The why’s will be important only to the individual—no right or wrong exists.

I will say that ‘the why’ I seem to observe the most is the desire to look “hot.” Nothing wrong with that—I just find that very few people remain driven by this motivator alone. The reason is two-fold: First, not everyone really values their looks as much as they say they do. What I mean is that people who value their physical appearance more than anything else will usually make sacrifices and endure hardships—like giving up foods, bypassing snacking or even restricting partying—to maintain a certain look. Generally, nobody has to motivate these people to exercise. They don’t have to think too hard about it, because their sights are set on the prize—they value their looks above all else.

The second reason is that everybody values something, and people will always gravitate (over time) toward the things they value the most. So if they value business, they’ll eventually focus their efforts on business. If they value family, then they’ll focus there. Be it art, music, sports, cars or anything else, people are driven by what they love and value. For most people, their dominant values end up overriding their drive to look hot.

A better strategy then, when determining the why’s to achieving great health, is to see how caring for your health will allow you to partake in, achieve or excel at your most dominant values—the things that you love. If you love business, then see how being in your best physical health will support you in your work. If you love entertaining, then how can your health make you a better performer, hostess or socialite? How can your health help you earn more money or care for your family? By making these connections to your values, I am certain that you will seek and choose health to help you fulfill whatever tops your list.

Understand…the why’s have to be big enough. As things change, and this includes your health, you will need big why’s to keep you going. If you say you want to be “hot,” but just can’t give up that Saturday night six-pack…or those late-night cookies…or that gym laziness, you probably don’t want it as badly as you think. That’s okay—just see how your health can help you achieve the things that you would sacrifice for, and make sure that attending to your health is a part of that sacrifice. Great health will get you where you want to go most effectively, and you’ll also look good in the process.

Life’s Path Revealed by Heart’s Illumination

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Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

A few years ago I was interviewed for a documentary project on life and its winding road of intricacies, when a question came around to choosing one’s life path. The interviewer asked if I had always known my chosen path. My answer came quickly and emphatically: No! My life’s path has been one of evolution; in fact, I am certain that I had no way to define it, or even to label it, as I do not believe it has ever been experienced before. Let me explain:

Some people are just born knowing their life’s mission. Have you ever heard someone say, “I just knew I would be a doctor—it’s what I’ve wanted my whole life.”? Or maybe you have seen the video footage of a two-year-old Tiger Woods on the Mike Douglas show hitting a golf ball (check YouTube)? Without a doubt, some people feel the fire burning inside them from day one, while still others simply figure it out quicker than most. But the majority of us have to search for our life’s calling, like a treasure to be found in a quest of the soul; the search as much a part of the path as the calling itself.

And then some of us must create a path where once there was none, innovators of the most magnificent kind, because that which has been paved before doesn’t really lead to where we wish to go. So it may be several years before you fully comprehend your direction, as I was well into my thirties before I saw the big picture. It is thus important to not get discouraged during those hazy days, when you can’t quite see beyond the fog of youth, but instead simply follow your heart, because this is where the light of your soul shines, to guide you down your inspired path even when your conscious mind is still in the dark.

For those of us pioneering our own pathway, then, it might pay to consider a few things along the way. First, as I’ve already said, your heart is the beacon of your soul—it knows exactly where you are going, so just focus on the things that you love the most. Yes, we all have activities and obligations that we do not necessarily care to do, but must do anyway. However, I am talking about what you wish to prioritize, whether that be music, or sports, or dancing, or watching birds…do it every chance you get. If you find yourself developing an interest in another area, then investigate it—that is your heart speaking to you. In my own life, I find that my interests have progressed every few years, such that the work I do today is an integrated synthesis of all my life’s loves, and I never cease to be amazed at the order of it all.

Next, do not get discouraged because you haven’t figured it out yet. Pressures of these sorts tend to lead people to seek guidance outside themselves, to follow paths not truly of their own hearts, and to give up when the going gets tough, because nobody sticks it out for something they are not really driven by.

Finally, don’t be afraid to innovate. Who says that a love of computers and salsa dancing don’t go together? You never know what you might create. Consider all the great innovations throughout history, and understand how it takes a different kind of thinking to change the world. It certainly wasn’t lost on Hooters to figure out the value of amalgamating interests.

The interviewer wrapped things up by asking what advice I would give kids who are uncertain about what they would love to do in their lives. My answer was simple: Just do what you love. Nurture every one of your interests—give them time, and do them well—believe me, it’ll all come together before you know it. Trust in the process, because the heart never lies. We are all born with an inner inspiration and calling, our life’s path just waiting to express itself uniquely through its carrier. Let your heart shine and it will show you the way. Uncovering your path is a process of evolution for the most part, so enjoy every step along the way. It is your path after all, and nobody is going to love it unless you do.

 

Life’s Purpose is the Light That Guides

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 What’s your life’s purpose? Have you ever really thought about it? Have you defined it? One very distinct advantage people have when they actually define their life’s purpose is that they become remarkably adaptable to change. Stress is the failure of an organism to adequately respond to changes; and in the case of humans, it could hamper the health and the quality of one’s life.

Being in touch with your life’s purpose gives you a foundation from which to base your decisions, and it allows you to keep things in perspective when the inevitable happens…like when life changes. Changes in work, changes in income, and changes in lifestyle can all cause enormous stress if you are not prepared for them. But by knowing a few principles, you can turn those stressful moments into transition points that simply lead you into the next phase of your divine life.

Some people mistakenly believe that only purposes of a grand nature are valuable. If it isn’t feeding the homeless, or adopting babies from war-torn countries, or advocating world peace, then somehow it mustn’t be good enough to focus on. It’s as if one’s life purpose needs to be lofty, with the more mundane missions left unspoken or under wraps.

But any purpose is valid. Whether talking of providing a service to the world, or being the loving matriarch of stable and nurturing family, no person’s inspired mission lacks value or deserves to be discounted.

By writing your purpose down, you can invest the time and energy into thinking about it, and periodically refining it, until you shape it to fit your unique life. And for people who think they don’t know their life’s purpose, just understand that you are living it every day. Everything that drives you, that interests you, and which you love are all a part of your life’s purpose. By writing these things down, you will attune more closely to the mission that you are meant to fulfill.

The secret, then, is to connect all your decisions and any of your life’s changes to your purpose. If your purpose is to teach others, then see how your new job, or new residence, or new life’s circumstance allows you to do so. If your purpose is to be a loving, nurturing parent, then see how the current changes in your life will allow you to be, and do, just that. Do this no matter what your life’s mission might be. Don’t get caught in the trap of comparisons, where you weigh your previous circumstances against the current or new ones to be—this is a game in futility; it will get you nowhere and can quickly lead to depression.

Instead focus on your purpose. For example, “My work transition will allow me provide food and shelter for my children, which permits me to continue fulfilling my purpose as a provider, and nurturer, for my family.” By focusing on the things that you actually have, the things which allow you to fulfill your purpose, opens the doors for even more blessing to come, as our ability to attract is directly related to our state of gratitude.

Changes in life are inevitable. How we adapt to those changes determines the amount of stress we experience, and the degree to which it affects our health. So you can make any life transition a smooth one by connecting all you do, and all your decisions, to your life’s purpose. Defining your purpose means looking within, as you are living it every day. And by writing it down, and refining it periodically, you will surely have a guide that helps you adapt to any and all life transitions. Success and fulfillment come from living on purpose. Knowing what that is, and directing your life by it, is more than half the battle.

How Changing Responsibilities Impact Your Health

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rec-center-work-out-031 (Copy)Ah…time, the great humbler of egos and shatterer of illusions of human immortality. As we age, we often come to certain realizations about our beliefs, ideals, and expectations that perhaps don’t fall in line with the reality of the ticking clock. Not a bad thing, just a reminder that the activities we might have been putting off for so long are not going to just happen on their own, without our taking purposeful action to make those dreams a reality.

Responsibilities also change with time. We go from self-serving, newly independent young women and men, to contributing members of a workforce and community, to matriarchs and patriarchs of families, to grandparents and leaders of community organizations and institutions—our various responsibilities changing repeatedly along the way. It has been said that nothing in life is permanent except change, and this is never more true than in our evolving responsibilities throughout our lifetime.

The Power of Practicing Good Habits while Healthy

I am a sports chiropractor. Part of my job is to help people recover from chronic pain and injury. I also work very closely with people on an educational level. It is my inspired mission to help people understand the magnificence of their bodies, and how, by nurturing the greatest gift that nature has bestowed upon them, they can do the most to ensure that they will have the time and energy to complete the dreams and goals they have set as their legacy.

My observation is that many people neglect health-nurturing until they actually start to experience physical symptoms. Although it is never too late to begin loving and caring for one’s body, waiting to do so has some distinct disadvantages.

To begin with, waiting for physical symptoms to arise before attending to your health makes it much more difficult to maintain wellbeing than by practicing good habits while healthy. This is just a fact I wish to point out here. Next, some symptoms are late in their expression, which means that damage to your body can already be done by the time symptoms arise (think heart attack, as one extreme example), and sometimes that damage is irreversible. Finally, habits can be tough to break, so the earlier you begin, the easier they are to maintain. My point here is that it is fairly common for people to drift from one health challenge to the next, attending to each malady as it comes along, by treating symptoms and not the cause, in a cyclical pattern, until the overall health and function of the body collapses. Not a good strategy in my opinion.

The Impact of Changing Responsibilities

That brings me to changing responsibilities. When we are young, in that age when the probability of developing disease is quite low (usually between our 20s-40s), it is easy to ignore our health with very little consequence. You know what I mean—frequent pizza dinners, regular and (sometimes) heavy drinking, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, and so on—we often treat our bodies as if we can handle any insult, and that we might just live forever; which is not so grave to our minds, since, for the most part, we only have ourselves to think about.

That is, until our bodies tell us otherwise. This usually happens as people reach their forties. The bad foods we eat start to catch up to us then, digestive discomforts telling us of our indiscretions. Having even one drink (at least for me) can lead to a day of mental sluggishness and fatigue not conducive to carrying out one’s responsibilities. And getting inadequate rest?…ugh, forget about it…It can lead to poor performance at work, unnecessary accidents and poor relations with family members, friends and co-workers. Many of us (not all unfortunately) eventually come to the awareness that our health and wellbeing actually affect everybody we come into contact with; which becomes an especially weighty realization if we have children.

When it hits us that we have more to think about than just ourselves, many people make the commitment to change their relationship to their bodies. They decide to finally start that exercise program they have been putting off; they visit the doctor more often; they might even take up meditation, and watch what they eat; and this is a good thing. It is never too late to start adopting healthy habits. In fact, studies show that people who pick up healthy habits in middle age, and do it consistently, can reach the same levels of health as people who have done so their entire lives. Pretty inspiring, isn’t it?

My question to you, however, is…why wait?

It is much more difficult, although not impossible, to create new health habits the older we get. Let’s face it—we get set in our ways! So by starting now, no matter what your age, it will be much easier to make healthy behaviors a part of your lifestyle than if you begin a decade from now. Hate to say it, but you might not even have another decade if you neglect your health for long enough. Sorry to be the grim voice of reality here.

So how about initiating a change in responsibility today? Your responsibility to your health, your loved ones, and those who rely on you, all depend on your conscious decision to change things now! Most importantly, your responsibility to accomplishing your dreams, what you’ve set out to do, can only be realized if you have the health to do so. So take responsibility for your health today, and you’ll have the greatest chance of making your dreams come true.

Planning To Go With the Flow

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I’ve recently been asked about whether it’s best to be driven and act on one’s desires, or to just “go with the flow.” In my contemplations of this outstanding thought-question I have come to some realizations, both from investigating my own life, as well as being a student of other peoples’ lives through my work as a dream designer, and as an avid reader of biographies.

I love learning about peoples’ lives, and above all about human behavior. I especially love seeing the unique challenges every individual faces as they make their way through their destiny, and particularly how they overcome their perceived obstacles. One observation I have had is that we all go through repeating cycles of comfort-discomfort in any and all endeavors. These cycles then lead us to enter adjacent and interconnected push-relax cycles, necessary to expand us into the next level of our growth.

When we take on any new endeavor, whether we are simply at the starting point of conceptualization, or in full swing of acting on it, we must by necessity have a definition and goal of what we are attempting to achieve. Take, for instance, a new business: before anything is launched, a blueprint or map must be created, ‘the how’ to ‘the what’ of the entity…in other words, the means to the end.

But even before this stage, a purpose must be established—‘the why’ of the entire undertaking. Without a reason for existing—a void to be filled, a need to be attended to, or a problem to be solved—no business will get off the ground, let alone survive. Aristotle called these two aspects the final cause—the purpose for which a thing exists or is done, and the blueprint, or master plan, to doing it. Without these important factors, it is unlikely that any endeavor will successfully manifest.

So in every one of our endeavors—whether that be creating a business or starting a family—a final cause or purpose, and a planning stage, are necessary. Although these periods are usually filled with some knowns—like what we wish to create, and why; as well as some of the how’s—it is also filled with many unknowns, like how everything will play out. The details, in other words, remain a mystery.

During this stage, it is wholly appropriate to work hard, push, affect, influence, gather information, study, research, and so on. We would call this the ‘pushing’ phase, and it is clearly essential to get things moving. No action = no creation—it’s as simple as that. We have some control here, and it is wise to exert it. Very important is the need to plan, document, blue print and refine the plans, until even the most minute detail is accounted for. Anybody who has ever created anything can attest to the fact that planning, in detail, can save you from a heck of a lot of chaos in the future. Further, anybody who has ever failed to plan can attest to the disorder they soon find themselves in by skipping this important step. So my advice is to take control of this stage—the planning—and then push to get it off the ground.

Once your plan is in place, then letting go and letting it all unfold is the wisest thing to do. We can’t control every single detail, and why would we want to? Could you imagine how boring life would be if we could have command over how everything plays out in its entirety? No, this is a period of unknowing and discomfort, where details just unfold as they will. This is where we encounter the spice of life, the things that makes life interesting; the little curve balls that we don’t expect, and which lead us into areas of our greatest growth. I personally love it—most of my greatest adventures have come as a result of being open to these moments in the great unknown.

During this stage, you will probably find yourself in fight-or-flight, wondering what the heck you’ve gotten yourself into. You’ll question your abilities and what you thought you knew, but hang in there, because it’s usually where miracles happen. It’s highly imperative to be flexible in this phase—in other words, to just go with the flow—because trying to control too much here can make the challenge even worse; and really, you’ll only be holding yourself back, blocking your own success, and maybe even having a hard time learning the associated lessons (don’t worry, you’ll learn eventually anyway) if you push too hard. Further, even if it does all work out for you, the stress you cause by trying to control the uncontrollable will age you unnecessarily.

So, yes, going with the flow is important…but so is pushing. The reality is that an equal balance of the two will provide you with the greatest growth. So be diligent and plan ahead; work on your final cause before undertaking any endeavor. You will take care of all the things you can control that way, and anticipate a few of problems you will encounter along the way. But when it comes time for stepping back and getting flexible—then sway with the wind. You will keep your sanity that way, while very likely discovering some cool things you just hadn’t expected; and you’ll grow in character, too. Not a bad way to approach life in general: Planning…and then going with the flow.

Love Relationships

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Everything in life is cyclical, even romantic relationships. We may have few of these, or many, during our lifetime, but there’s no doubt that they can be our biggest catalysts to growth. Our mates both support and challenge us more than anybody outside of ourselves, such that nobody else knows how to comfort us so capably, yet so effectively push our buttons. Our mates, then, along with our children, are our greatest teachers.

The things that become issues within our relationships tend to be parts of ourselves that we deny we have, and so we project our perceptions onto our partners. What we see in them are simply parts of us we haven’t loved yet, and so whatever karmic lessons we have to learn then become imprinted on our minds as our significant other’s problem. At certain stages of our lives we may try to change that other person, but this is futile, because people just are who they are. It is our imposed perceptions that we have the real problem with, and it’s important to remember that whatever we fail to love in its entirety will come back around, often in a different form or another person, yet with the lessons remaining the same.*

Earliest Relationships Teach Us to Love Ourselves

We start having romantic-like relationships during our preadolescence. This period is characterized by our simply learning the basics—doing things alone together, kissing, touching and other forms of intimacy, and even fighting and conflict resolution. And, of course, the inevitable…breaking up. Yes we learn very early the lesson of non-permanence. All these aspects of our first romantic relationships are important introductions into the intricacies of love, or infatuation, whatever the case may be.

As we get older, then, we take each new relationship into a new level of awareness and understanding. The things that we have learned in previous ones make us a bit savvier for the next, but our earliest relationships are really just platforms for us to learn about ourselves. Let me qualify this statement, because surely we never stop learning, and as I said earlier, our significant others’ tend to be our greatest teachers:

I believe that we do not, and cannot, truly appreciate another person until we appreciate ourselves first. As we move through successive romantic relationships, ideally anyway, we learn to love more about ourselves. My greatest periods of personal growth have resulted from the discomforts of major breakups. Now I certainly realize that this isn’t the case for everybody, but the principle remains the same: Our romantic relationships force us to look at ourselves, and resolve any problems we may have with our own egos.

Thus we may find that some character traits don’t really serve us well—like perhaps pushing aside the things we enjoy or not living within our highest values to accommodate the other person’s values. Or maybe we find that our values aren’t really compatible—that we just want different things in life. This can be a worthy discovery, especially if we come to know our own values better. But we may simply learn about the areas in which we wish to empower ourselves, be it physically, financially, socially, or other. I’ve had every one of these experiences, and depending on your age you may have as well, but there is an even deeper self-understanding that can occur through our love relationships.

Loving Self Opens Doors to Loving Others

As we evolve, we may start to discover things about ourselves that we have always thought were “other-issues,” or at least things we have attracted, but which we come to realize are perceptual constructs that we have about the world in general, and our earliest love interests more specifically. Sigmund Freud called it the Oedipus complex , and Jung added Electra complex to the lexicon, to denote the psycho-sexual development of men and women respectively in relation to their opposite sex parents. I think it’s important to not fixate on the sexual aspect of the theory, and just to consider that our parental relationships affect every romantic relationship thereafter, by being the source of the misperceptions we project onto our mates.

Once we start to see how what we are projecting onto our significant other is really the result of early childhood experiences that have created viewpoints, or emotional charges, and that these have been directing our behaviors and perceptual experiences within our relationships ever since, then we can begin to resolve them, and move closer to transcending these imagined other-issues.

This is a deeper level of self-awareness that comes from being involved in love relationships, and frankly, some people never get there. But if you can, it’s worth the inevitable struggle and pain, particularly when you first make the discovery. The farther you can delve into this fascinating world of self-exploration, the more you will begin to see that your problems with your significant other have not only been cyclical occurrences, but had nothing to do at all with the people you have been involved with. Instead your perceptions are based on childhood events that you initially misperceived to begin with.

And before you think there is no method to the madness, let me assure you that these misperceptions have been necessary to your development and destiny fulfillment. You couldn’t escape them even if you wanted to, as we come into this life with our karmic debt, or necessary lessons to learn. And it wouldn’t have mattered, anyway, who your parents were, or your subsequent love interests, as you would have (and will) project your perceptions onto whomever you decide to get involved with regardless.

True Love

As you move through this stage of self-awareness, the greater your capacity to truly appreciate your romantic partner becomes—and the closer you get to true love. Because when you can see your partner as a reflection of yourself, you are better able to understand who they actually are, and even what they might be going through at any given time, because they are doing with you exactly the same as you have been doing with them.

True love constitutes all parts of others and complete experiences—not just the “good” or “pleasureful”, but everything in its entirety. Being able to see that our perceptions are the real determinants in what we consider to be problems is the key to making these quantum transitions. When we enter this phase of self-awareness, our ability to see the love all around us begins to expand, and we can more fully appreciate the person we have chosen to walk through the next leg of our journey with.

Admittedly, not everybody makes it to this stage, and that’s okay—every path is one of learning, which is something none of us can escape. But if you can reach this step, you will surely find your romantic love relationships more rewarding, and the growth within, for the both of you, exponential; you will find that you attract the right partner at the right moment (could be your current spouse, as people can, and often do, grow together) for you to truly experience love in its fullest glory—not just the stuff that makes you feel good, but all of it. And best of all you will come to know yourself more completely, which is the true meaning of life, if you ask me.

~ Dr. Nick Campos June 11, 2012

*If you would love to know how to strengthen your current love relationship or how to attract your perfect mate, I am available for consultations: contact drnick@drnickcampos.com

Whatever You See, There You Are

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Reflective
I found a
weed
that had a

mirror in it
and that
mirror

looked in at
a mirror
in

me that
had a
weed in it ~ A.R. Ammons

nickcampos.comYou can’t escape yourself, have you heard? I’ve tried plenty of times, only to find that I was still lingering after the dust, or smoke, or booze had settled. Whatever we see in the world, whatever we perceive about others, is just that…a perception. It doesn’t really capture the true essence of a thing, unless you see all sides to that thing.

So people have all character traits, whether we like them or not. Just because we have the tendency to see others as one-sided doesn’t make it so. Everybody has everything—mean, nice, selfish, selfless, ego-centered and altruistic—nothing is missing. But when we judge another person—and it doesn’t matter if we are resenting them, or placing them on a pedestal—we are really just seeing them through our own perceptions.

Perception is an interesting thing, as it reflects our beliefs, drives (values), experiences, expectations, emotional charges, and karmic lessons. But believe me when I say it’s almost always wrong. Unless you see a person, thing, or event in its full capacity—both the “good” and the “bad”—and you love it for what it is, as it is, then you are not seeing that thing in its full capacity—its truth.

When we judge others, we are really judging that thing we deny in ourselves. We are so put off by traits and behaviors that we refuse to believe we have or do. In fact, we despise them so much in ourselves, that we will kick another person for showing us exactly how we are—an interesting form of blindness. But we certainly wouldn’t be able to see them if we were not so familiar, ourselves, with the trait.

And our common reactions to this person, trait or behavior tell us even more about who we are. Are you a runner? A fighter? A foot-stomper? Is it your way or the highway? It’s okay—it’s all good. Just know that whatever you fail to love today will come back around tomorrow, and you’ll get another chance to learn to love it. That’s life.

So remember that the weed you see in another is really the weed in you. See how it has benefited you and others, and see how this other person’s expression of it is benefiting you now—and love it! That’s the answer.

~ Nick Campos 6/8/2012

Legionnaires in Scotland

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Look out Edinburgh, Legionnaire’s disease is on the loose. Sixty one are said to be infected, and although authorities reassure the public that the health risk is low, they do expect numbers to climb.

The number of confirmed cases has increased to 24, while 37 more are suspected to be infected. One 56-year-old man has died. Officials have said that industrial cooling towers have been identified as a possible source of the infection, and that cooling systems at four facilities have been chemically treated. Scotland’s Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon told parliament that testing and analysis was still taking place but conceded that the source of the outbreak might never be known.

Legionnaire’s disease, also known as Legion Fever, is caused by the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, a ubiquitous aquatic organism that infects the respiratory tract on the inhalation of aerosol from the contaminated water source. The name of the disease was coined in 1976 when an outbreak of pneumonia occurred among people attending a convention of the American Legion at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.

Sources of contamination include cooling towers (some 40% to 60% of ones tested) used in industrial cooling water systems as well as in large central air conditioning systems, evaporative coolers, nebulizers, humidifiers, whirlpools, hot water systems, showers, windshield washers, whirlpool spas, architectural fountains, room-air humidifiers, ice making machines, misting equipment, and similar disseminators that draw upon a public water supply. ~ Wikipedia

Although the disease can be transmitted by any contaminated water source, hotels, fountains, cruise ships and hospitals with complex potable water systems and cooling systems are especially susceptible; and even respiratory devices can be contaminated if sterile water isn’t used.

Legionnaire’s disease is characterized by fever, chills, and cough, which may be dry or may produce sputum. Some patients will also have muscle aches, headache, tiredness, loss of appetite, loss of coordination (ataxia), and occasionally diarrhea and vomiting. Confusion and impaired cognition may also occur, as well as so-called ‘relative bradycardia‘–a slowed heart rate.

The Scottish Health Secretary says that an increased number of infected people is expected. She stated, “We hope that they will begin to provide more specific answers about the source of the infection over the next few days. It is not always possible to conclusively determine the precise source of an outbreak. The key message within southwest Edinburgh is that the risk to public health is low,” but she added, “We expect to see further cases over the next week.”

Stay tuned.

Low Dietary Vit D Stroke Risk for Japanese-American Men

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Whoa, check it: Japanese-American men with diets low in vitamin D had greater risk of stroke later in life. This according to recent long-term study looking at 7,400 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii. Just another confirmation that the sun nutrient, vitamin D, is paramount in maintaining health and wellness.

The study, which began in the mid-to-late-1960s, looked at Japanese-American men between the ages of 45 and 68, and examined and interviewed them about their dietary habits at that time. The men were then followed up with 34 years later, whereby 960 were found to have died of stroke. The men with the lowest vitamin D in their diets had a 22% greater risk of stroke, and a 27% greater risk of ischemic stroke (blood-clot type). No difference existed for hemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke, however.

“Our study confirms that eating foods rich in vitamin D might be beneficial for stroke prevention,” said study author Dr. Gotaro Kojima, a geriatric medicine fellow at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. He also stated that it is unknown at this time whether these results could be extrapolated to women or other ethnic groups.

So here I present just another study showing the importance of vitamin D supplementation, and again I ask how there can still be so many “authorities” unconvinced of the need to supplement. True, vitamin D can be found in foods like fortified milk, breakfast cereals, fatty fish and egg yolks, which are all good sources. And, of course, nothing beats the vitamin D production of our skin from the exposure to direct sunlight.

The good doctor Kojima does point out that synthesizing vitamin D from the sun becomes more difficult as people age, so older people especially should increase their dietary intake, and in my opinion take a good D supplement.

Once again, I’d like to point out that many experts, myself included, believe that the recommended blood D levels are too low; and while they may prevent some diseases, like rickets, optimum levels are almost 2-3 times more than the medical and dietary standards.

So Japanese-American men (and all people for that matter) need to get adequate sunlight (15-20 minutes sans sunscreen daily), eat vitamin D rich foods, and supplement. Hey, you can follow the authoritarian naysayers and skip supplementation, OR you can just freakin’ supplement. Which do you think comes with a heavier price to pay if wrong? Well then…nuff said.

West Hollywood Chiropractic: Icing Exercises for Biceps

By On · Add Comment · In biceps tendon, icing, inflammation, shoulder impingement syndrome, sports injury, subacromial bursa, West Hollywood sports chiropractor

For twelve years I’ve been sports chiropractic in West Hollywood. I’ve seen my fair share of shoulder injuries and conditions. The one I see most is shoulder impingement syndrome, and I find the element most forgotten in this common sports injury is the biceps tendon.

Now you might think, “Wait…my doctor told me I have biceps tendinitis, but it just never got better.” Right–because biceps tendinitis is only 33% correct when it comes to impingement syndrome. Two other elements play a major role in this sports injury–the supraspinatus tendon and the subacromial bursa–and so solely focusing on the biceps will not solve the problem.

However…when a shoulder impingement is properly diagnosed, and all instructions are followed, as far as treatment and icing is concerned, then the element I find most responsible for any stubbornness to healing and persistence of pain is the biceps tendon.

The final solution is two-fold. First is icing and cooling down that inflamed tendon. In the video below, I show the best way to ice the biceps tendon. It’s important to get the long head tendon out to the surface–you’ll get the most complete icing that way. To do this you will need to externally rotate the arm. I instruct my clients to do this seated in a chair or couch, or anywhere in which the arm can be help up and rotated outward. This movement brings the long head of the biceps from the deep interior of the axilla (arm pit) out to the exterior, and the back rest can be used to hold the arm in place, because remember icing should be done for fifteen minutes, no more, no less.

Watch the video to see how to best ice your biceps-persistent shoulder impingement syndrome, and we’ll discuss the second step in a future post.

Got Gaydar?

By On · Add Comment · In configural face processing, featural face processing, gay, gaydar, phenotype, sexual orientation, straight, Thatcher effect

Got Gaydar? I do. At least I think I do. And here’s something…you might also. In fact, it looks like many of us have the ability to tell gay from straight; it’s an evolution thing. You’ll have to admit the neurological benefits to NOT having to think too hard about whether someone is a potential sex partner or not, right? I mean…it’s just biology.

Well, a recent study gives evidence that humans not only have a pretty good capability of telling another’s sexual orientation, but there may even be phenotypic markers that give it all away. Whoa! In other words, genetics may play an even bigger part than some of us have thought: How you look, and what you see, can get you laid…in the right way.

A study coming out of the University of Washington, Seattle sought to find out how we read faces to determine sexual orientation. Previous studies have shown that we possess the ability greater than what would be expected by sheer chance, so the UW team wanted to understand the mechanism.

What we know: People can pick out with relatively high accuracy both men’s and women’s sexual orientation relying on no more than grossly impoverished facial photographs (i.e., grayscale, hair-removed) presented for as few as 40–50 ms.

What we don’t know: Do people use featural face processing–relying on individual facial features, like eye and mouth cues–or do they use configural face processing, the relationship among facial features, like distance between eyes and such, or some combination of the two?

To study this, researchers took profile pictures of self-reported hetero- and homosexual men and women off Facebook, and doctored them with Photoshop, removing hair and ears, and essentially just leaving the face. They then showed the photos to 129 college students, some right side up, and others upside down. Previous studies have shown that an above-chance accuracy exists for determining sexual orientation through individual facial cues, and these cues are accurately assessed when viewed either right side up or upside down. In men, for instance, cues around the eyes alone or mouth alone led to high sex orientation accuracy.

But for configural processing–which include a) ordinal spatial relationships among individual features (e.g., eyes appear above noses), b) cardinal spatial relationships among individual features (e.g., the amount of space between the eyes), or processing the face in a holistic or gestalt manner (i.e., the general shape of the face)–things get a bit tougher. While people are able to determine categorical features, like gender or race, from primarily individual cues, and thus whether the view is right side up or upside down, other identity-based features, like familiarity or celebrity, which rely more on configural cues, are lost when the image is viewed upside down (called the Thatcher effect).

The researchers found that although participants were able to read men’s sex preference with above-chance accuracy, they were much better at reading women’s. And “false alarms” were less common in women, too–so with the gals, it appears…when we know, we know. But most surprisingly was that sexual orientation was picked out with above-chance accuracy in the upside down position, albeit not as precisely as when right-side up, thus the scientist concluded that both featural and configural processes are at work when assessing sexual orientation.

So we have facial features that conform to our sexual orientation individually and in their relation to one another, spatially and holistically. No doubt, these features tell our potential mates which way we swing. Some things we still don’t know is do the facial features and sexual orientation express together, or do our sexual orientation experiences shape phenotype (our looks)? Either way, you’ve got to admit this is an interesting study. I mean, most everybody thinks they’re equipped with gaydar. Truth is, we probably all are to a degree.

Effective Smoking Deterrent

By On · Add Comment · In CDC video, Centers of Disease Control (CDC), kids, quit smoking, smoking, smoking deterrent, Tips From Former Smokers

I don’t usually care for commercials, but they got me on one today. I usually get pissed when I have to wait five seconds to skip an ad…and those sly marketers did it. The simple headline, “Tips From Former Smokers,” grabbed me. What? And from the opening line–it’s genius!

“When you got a hole in your neck, don’t face the shower head.”

Bam! Powerful. And it keeps getting better. If this ain’t a deterrent for smoking, man, nothing’s gonna stop ya. Yeah, it worked for me.

Listen up, school boards…play this CDC video for every kindergarten, grammar school and high school in the world if you want to deter smoking. Make them in different languages. Don’t hold back, show the kids–you’ll probably decrease new smokers by fifty percent. G’head–dare ya. And tell ’em Campos told ya.

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Nick Campos - All Rights Reserved.