Win, win, win scenario

I love the notion that we could foil the plans of Big Pharma to keep us all dependent on drugs - by taking control of our health, individually, from the inside.  Let's do it.  It seems to me that many “miracle” recovery stories are beautiful examples of how the power of belief works.



A few weeks ago I went to a talk by a defector from Big Pharma who now writes and talks about a very different route to well-being: Dr David Hamilton.  He became more interested in the placebo effect than the effects of the pharmaceuticals, which is great for us, because from him we get to hear both sides of the story.

Dr David Hamilton

Although he has certainly talked about the role of belief in self-healing, this particular talk was about the power of love and kindness; not as you might expect, about the good this does in the world, but about the amazing health benefits for the giver.



Wo! I'm glad to say, he made it quite clear he wasn't advocating kindness for selfish reasons, but he did want us to appreciate just how well adapted our bodies are for it.  When we are showing love or compassion all kinds of fabulous natural healing processes kick in.  We aren't just happier, we are physically healthier too.



When you hug someone, or even if you just pause to help a stranger pick up some things they dropped, you get a rush of the hormone oxytocin into your system.  This hormone has been shown to improve people's responses to others.  People tend to be more generous, more trusting, find it easier to connect with others and like people more when their system is flooded with oxytocin.  (Apparently, it is not unheard of for business people to spray a room with an oxytocin substitute just before potential clients enter, in the hope of closing that crucial deal.  Shocking behaviour, but that's the profit-driven world for you.  I suppose at least everyone would be happy – until it wore off!)



The splendid point is, the more you practice compassion, the more disposed to showing compassion you become, in a beautiful ever-expanding spiral.  (This news makes a welcome change from downward, ever-tightening spirals.)  This leads to an expansion in the area of the brain disposed to compassion.  And more oxytocin, a powerful anti-oxidant, which means that it's good for our bodies in myriad ways.  It expands the arteries, reducing blood pressure.  It reduces inflammation, decreasing the risk of heart disease and colon cancer, and the effects of ageing.



David also talked about stimulation of the vagus nerve and its role in reducing inflammation in the body.  Inflammation is the number one cause of ageing, which is linked to deteriorating health, so anything we can do to hold it at bay is a good thing. He taught us a simple version of the Buddhist 'loving-kindness” meditation.  He reckons meditation impacts on 1,500 genes, turning off inflammation triggers.  And counting your blessings also improves your health – keeping a gratitude diary for just 3 weeks improved the health of participants in a study.  People would pay a lot of money for any drug (or dietary supplement, for that matter) which brought health improvements that rapidly – this is free!



Just before the halfway break, he got us all to stand up and hug the person next to us.  I had come alone, and so had a woman just in front of me, so we hugged each other.  It was lovely, it definitely felt good, there was a momentary connection.



David, who trained as an organic chemist, made his explanations clear and simple without talking down to the audience.  I particularly enjoyed the way he dotted his talk with illustrative stories about real people and real situations, often with a smile and a joke.  He wasn't afraid to repeat important points.  I should add, he has the most gorgeous Scottish accent.  His voice carried well to the back of the room, but still, somehow, he maintained a conversational style.  He was great to listen to, great to watch.  And very inspirational.



So let's take control of our health from the inside.  Starting with kindness to ourselves.  Then our loved ones.  Acquaintances.  Strangers.  Let's set great waves of kindness and compassion rippling out into the world.  Why hold back?  It's a win, win, win scenario.

Bon Courage!

One of the things I have to keep reminding myself - but is well worth the effort! - is the importance of being me. Of digging deep and finding the courage to celebrate what is particular about me, with all my faults and flaws. What is the point of wasting this precious life trying to be someone else?

Photo by David Cappaert, Michigan State University, (Bugwood.org), www.insectimages.org

We each have a unique make-up, beautifully formed from our DNA to our most influential relationships, and from all our life experiences in-between. I firmly believe we are here to explore that to the full, not to try to conform to any imposed norm.

I draw courage and inspiration from those who meet much greater challenges than me, and yet seem to approach life as a joyous adventure. When someone with physical or mental challenges above the average is filled with gratitude at being alive, at having this fabulous opportunity, it is both humbling and motivational.

I'd like to share some of my favourites here:

Peggy O'Neill

Peggy O'Neill - the tiny speaker who empowers you to walk tall! Peggy is 3'8", vibrant, amazing.
http://yopeggy.com/index.php?page=bio&family=meetpeggy

"Get back up" - Nick Vujicic. Born with no limbs, now inspiring others never to give up. What a guiding light.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

Robert Pio Hajjar, a man who does not let his Down syndrome hold him back. He founded IDEAL-WAY.ca to help all of us see ability rather than disability in others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROWbyKVLYr8&feature=player_embedded
http://www.ideal-way.ca/Ideal/Default.aspx

Jill Bolte Taylor "got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story." Now she shares her story with everyone.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
http://drjilltaylor.com/

Dr Jill Bolte Taylor (photo Kip May)

There is a wonderful book, by Art Berg, called "The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer". He says: "Dreams are never destroyed by circumstances. They are born in the heart and the mind and only there can they ever die. For while the difficult takes time, the impossible just takes a little longer."
http://www.artberg.com/

He also says: "Your vision for yourself is what you know you need to make your life significant."

I'm thinking: just by being you, your life is significant. You don't have to do something that hits the headlines. But the more 'you' that you allow yourself to be, the happier and more fulfilled you're going to feel.

So, are you ready to jump into this joyous adventure, being you?

If we all jump at once, we'll make a mighty big splash in Space-Time. Fantastic!

 

Bon Voyage!

IMAGINE you're going to go on a 6000 mile journey. You'll be away for eight months. You'll be on the move most of the time.

What preparations will you make? What will you take?


I know I'd want to find out a lot about where I was going. About the terrain; the climate; will they have Costa Coffee? At the very least I'd want a map. But a good satellite navigation system would be better.


Well, if you're a bird, there's not a lot by way of preparation you can do, except to eat well and keep those wing muscles exercised. There's no way for you to do any research. There's nothing you can take. You just have to trust that your inbuilt sat nav is going to get you to where you need to be - and back - at the right time.


5 billion small songbirds - from swallows to willow warblers - engage in an exodus from Europe into Africa each Autumn. Tagging with leg rings has told us something about their movements in Europe, but where they go in Africa is still largely a mystery.


That's why, in Thetford (Norfolk, England), right now, there are some very excited conservationists. Because electronics has got ever smaller, for the first time they have been able to track the migration of a songbird. Not just any songbird, but possibly the most written about, sung about, celebrated songbird of all time.

(Photo by Edmund Fellowes/BTO)

They have tracked the amazing journey of a nightingale, code named "OAD", all the way from Norfolk to Guinea-Bissau in North Africa.  That's a hell of a long way for a bird about the size of a robin.  The tiny geolocator is too small to 'send' information, so they had to re-catch the birds they'd tagged. They caught OAD just 50 yards from where they tagged him last year. Information from the logger has shown his incredible journey from July until February.

here's a map of the route

The English Channel and France were really just a warm up for what was ahead.

OAD had to negotiate the Pyrenees, like a great wall dividing France from Spain, prone to sudden, heavy thunderstorms.


In August Spain is hot and arid. Songbirds tend to migrate in the dark to avoid the heat and evade predators. But an unexpected horror waits for them in the Spanish night. One that they can't see or hear. The greater noctule bat, with its 45cm wingspan, has recently been proven to catch and eat songbirds, on the wing, during migration, especially in the Autumn.


Once he had escaped the bats, OAD probably had to run the gauntlet of the Strait of Gibraltar, where many birds of prey would also be heading south.


In Morocco he had a three week rest to refuel. The satellite pictures show that there's a bit of green in the North and if he hugged the coastline he could avoid the mountains, but further south it looks grimly brown. Then he would be into Western Sahara, Mauritania and northern Senegal, which all look equally barren.


All down that west coast there is the risk of vast, swirling dust storms being blown across from the Sahara - so furious they can strike as far out as the Canary Islands.


OAD had just six weeks or so in Guinea-Bissau before beginning that awesome endeavour in reverse. The logger stopped recording in February so we don't know his route back, but the scientists hope to log more birds next year.

The nightingale is a sleek little bird a bit longer than a robin, with huge beautiful eyes. It's brown down the back and pale in front and has an upright stance reminiscent of a thrush.

more pix like this


Like other songbirds, the males sing during the day, especially at dawn. Of course, what has placed the nightingale into legend, poetry and song is the pure, passionate, haunting beauty of its singing at night, when all else is still.

a nightingale singing
3 nightingales competing


I formed my early impressions of how beautiful a nightingale must sound from Nat King Cole's rendition of 'A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square'. I almost imagined that the bird would sound like him.

I wish I'd thought to seek one out as a child. There were 10 times as many nightingales in the 60s as there are today.

Sadly, nightingale numbers in England are in free-fall. They're increasingly rare, but are clinging on in East Anglia and the South East.


I started out wanting to convey the awesome nature of a songbird's migration, but in the process I've uncovered yet another conservation emergency. I guess these days that's almost inevitable. If anyone is inspired to find out more, I recommend the website of the British Trust for Ornithology. They are the guys in Thetford carrying out the research into songbird migration.


These lightweight little creatures spend more than half of their time travelling between their summer and winter destinations. They only live for two or three years. What an immense effort in a short life.


I feel humbled to think that, after all that, they still are able to gift such beauty into the world through their songs.

Let's get going

I'm an optimist. I know there are dreadful things going on in the world, we all know, I'm not going to give a list. I still believe the human spirit is fundamentally good. I believe that truth, love and joy will prevail.

This is a great time to be alive. Despite what we are facing, or perhaps because of it, these are wonderful, interesting times. Now is a great opportunity to discover our magnificent capabilities, shake off fear and break free; to expand fully into all it can mean to be a human being. This will be the joy generation.

What a ride!