Some of my favorite links:
Mike (my husband)
Was talkin' with my sister yesterday - she is going to design a web page for me, and with me... I don't have the time.I wonder what we will create?
I do know it will be simple, a reflection of me, my aspiration toward clarity, peace, harmony, and no stuff.Maybe I'll put some pics up there.
How about this one?
What a babe!
Not even a year old and she's already hamming it up for the photographer!FYI, I sent this pic to the gal who is blogging babes. Check it out on blogger's homepage.
IBS news of note: Am still positive and steady and regular. Today is a 'pre' menstrual day, e.g. am somewhat crampy and that heightens the BM process. Fortunately this part will only last a few hours. I am vacillating about whether I want to go to yoga class this morning. May not be a good thing today...
Later.
posted by LST 7/7/2001 07:50:51 AM
5.7.01
Mike made dessert last night. A yogurt-based souffle. It was tasty, though he didn't 'fold' the whipped egg whites in very well, so it was more like a custard with a meringue interspersed...Today my system is slow. Is that b/c I ate dessert late, or b/c I ate the yogurt, which still has lactose? Or b/c I didn't sleep well (neighbors came home at 2 am from July 4th celebration and proceeded to party in yard, waking us in the process)?
Who knows. I aim to get to campus, but am admittedly sluggish at the moment. Have much work to do, both for dissertation and for other research project. Need to run. Too hot. UGH.
Just read a short article on IBS from the most recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. Nothing really new there. Those MDs are still trying to figure out the body-mind connection, and in process keep coming up with weird drugs that have lots of side effects, and aren't terribly effective in addressing IBS anyway...
So, all I have to say is what I usually have to say: we are our own healers. Change diet, add fiber, create a routine, check for vitamin and mineral imbalances and add appropriate supplements, de-stress (yoga!), and give oneself plenty of time and rest. In short order one should see improvement.
It is also true that each of us needs to experiment b/c each of us is unique (and very very special!). My hope is that those who read this blog will be inspired to manage their own road to health - take an active role in it. My experiments, and results, posted here might be a primer or guide for those with need of such.
I could get all philosophical right now but think I'll save that for another post.
Later.
posted by LST 7/5/2001 08:17:50 AM
2.7.01
I have been thinking about my IBS and journey toward 'perfect health', and of some important factors influencing the journey and the goal. One is attitude. If we think about it, most of us dwell more in the negative than in the positive, and this affects our personal energy (not to mention the influence we have on others). We are used to this. Our culture is full of it. Take the concept of responsibility - we grow up avoiding it, thus we become irresponsible for ourselves, our actions and our health, and we give that 'responsibility' to some other such as a doctor or an analyst. This other will 'heal' us b/c that person is a professional who is trained to do so.Isn't that weird?
How can someone else even remotely know what is going on inside of ME? Yes they are trained to recognize classic symptoms of disease. Yes they can treat that disease with medicines or shrink our heads... But think about it - most medicines, even most analyses, are designed to work with the aid of our body, reinforcing white blood cell efficiency to combat virus, or probe the psyche to get at a root problem that one has buried since childhood, etc.
What I am saying here is that ultimately WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HEALING OURSELVES.
Yikes!
How can one best approach that and reach a state of perfect health?
Positive attitude.
Go ahead, laugh. Smirk. Frown. Disbelieve.
Now try it.
Ha. Easier said than done you say.
YUP.
Takes work.Why do I bring this up? It's important - without a clear, untainted picture of whatever one's personal challenge is, one cannot possibly meet that challenge. Buying into the negative spin on disease or depression or IBS :-) circumvents any attempt to overcome the challenge.
I was talking with my sister last night about just such stuff and want to share some thoughts about it, and my personal journey, as well as Mike's journey (husband).
Mike and I were talking about mood and attitude and assorted stuff last night, mainly b/c he was in the room and heard my half of the phone conversation (while he was working on his 'puter).
We realized that what we NOW take for granted, namely almost continuously positive attitude, neither of us did before. We have both had to work at it, and still have work to do, but also realize that without the positive energy we wouldn't have been able to tackle our respective personal/physical stuff so potently.e.g. Mike has been 'in remission' according to his doc, for 4.5 years - a phenomenal situation for someone with Crohn's Disease. I was just thinking that since I decided to aim for 'perfect health', I make doodies every day and it is EASY - a phenomenal occurance for an IBS-er prone to constipation. I no longer worry about whether or not my bowel will work or cooperate b/c I am positive I am treating myself well, thus my self/body reflects that attitude.
Both of us have delved into our backgrounds, upbringing, inner energy neg & pos, etc. We have both read lots of different books on things relating to our conditions, as well as the alt stuff like Chopra and Weil and Northrup.
It's been a journey, and continues. Sometimes it's not so fun, downright tough, but then you get to a plateau where life is great all over... and you know that the next plateau is worth whatever the next stretch of path brings, even if there is more tough stuff (and there's always something...).
Don't think of your IBS (or whatever) in terms of limits - that only means you are using it as a crutch... Mike got that message from the infamous Louise (NYC in-your-face-bodyworker) about his Crohn's. He had thought of it in a negative limiting light until she asked him point blank why he felt he needed to hold on to that crutch. What was that doing FOR him?
I did this with my 'committee from hell' - turned them into my 'interesting interdisciplinary committee' - and was amazed at how well this worked for me.
I am doing the same with my IBS - treating this 'syndrome' as a lesson or a challenge to my creativity, even to my core - what can I learn about myself? About my world?
There are all sorts of lessons here.
Something to think about.
posted by LST 7/2/2001 06:33:11 AM