The Magnificent, Mysterious BRAIN

I've been a busy little bee the past couple of days. I've been exposed to so much intriguing information that I feel my brain will pop right out of it's little cranial cocoon! I picked up a copy of the Utne Reader today at borders. Well, I picked it up to read it, not to take it home. I'd forgotten what a great magazine that is... So much thought provoking information, from the uplifting to the hideously heinous.

I learned about various visionaries who are changing the world for the better in their many unique ways. I learned about US doctors who condone and participate in torture, as long as the person is a detainee of the US government. I learned about how the military suppressed information that would have exposed this, as well as other details concerning government torture and the effects suffered by the victims... often death. And the destruction of files and records. It always amazes me when people really believe the government acts in their best interest. The government acts in its OWN best interest, period. And if a side benefit is that it is also in the people's best interest... Bonus for us!

I finished the Elegance of the Hedgehog. I laughed out loud, making the people around me in Borders very uncomfortable... and I also wept. (A little more silently) It was the most remarkable novel I've read in a long long time.

I also heard an interview with this brain expert on the radio. His name is John Medina. My God, this man is brilliant. He is showing how we are basically torturing ourselves and our children living in the style with which we've all become accustomed. I learned amazing new things from this interview and had many of my own theories confirmed.. on a biophysical... molecular level! I feel more strongly than ever about home schooling, but not sure how I'd work those logistics. I highly recommend at least taking a peek at his blog. If you're at all interested in how the brain functions and how to get the best from it... he's your man. Or at least one of them! Check him out...


His website is: http://www.johnmedina.com/ His blog site is: http://brainrules.blogspot.com/
His new book is, Brain RULES

So, now my own brain is reeling. All the thoughts and possibilities, and learning and expansive potential yet to be discovered. It's all so hopeful and exciting!

A New Path

So, Petit Fleur is starting some training next week to move her career in a new direction. Or really just in ANY direction. There is a long, boring and likely typical story attached to why I chose to major in marketing rather than something like anthropology, religion or psychology, but it's hardly worth sharing.

Most of my "career moves" have been to take whatever job I could get in the field of marketing, sales or admin. I don't particularly like any of them, but have been known to expand whatever position I find myself in just out of sheer will, and well, trying to break through the glass ceiling.... you know, proving myself to get more money. (It really only worked once, but it wasn't enough to keep me there.) I've spent a lot of time spinning my wheels about what I want/need to be doing career wise. I think I wrote the book on feeling stuck... When I was a youngun', my original plan was to become a brilliant psychologist... but now when I think of returning to that plan, I realize it's no longer what I want. It's what I wanted 20 years ago. However, I am still a "therapy" type person. Meaning that anything to do with personal growth and healing is of interest to me.

Considering that the 'therapy oriented' side of my personality is very strong, I figured on the healing path as the one I would choose... but what? Well, I will tell you. Through a strange series of coincidences, I found out about a growing profession called Coaching. It sounds pretty cheesy and there is sort of a scammy aspect to the industry, BUT... all in all, I believe it is a needed service for many people and it beats the hell out of therapy for those that choose it. It is for people who are stuck and want to make a change, but need extra support to do it. People who need accountability, similar to any support group like weight watchers, or AA, only this is an individualized approach which is goal oriented. I like to call it professional nagging! If you think about it, mostly women are in this field, so it makes perfect sense. Just ask any married man and he will tell you. Since I come from a long line of the most excellent, cunning and persistent of naggers, I feel like I have a pretty good shot at making this work.

I have been coached for my ADHD in the past, and it has worked well for me. I also believe that the habits I develop as a result of professionally nagging others will rub off on me... I mean, it pretty much has to, right? Then I will conquer the world!! mooooaaaah!

Seriously, this seems like the perfect fit for me, and I am totally excited about it... however, I am really nervous about spending the money on training. I believe I found a really reasonable and reputable group to train with, but it is still pretty expensive for our broke asses. This is one of the riskiest endeavors, money wise, that I have engaged in for quite some time. So, when you are sending up your wishes, to whomever you address your wishes too, would you please whisper a small wish that this is what finally WORKS for me/us.

I have one Guinea pig client already. This is our first week of working together, and I think it's gone pretty well so far. He's great and very motivated for the shift, so we have not run into any roadblocks just yet. And if anyone of you would like to sign on to be a Guinea pig for me, I am willing to coach you for free as long as my sanity holds up.

Here's to change!

Catching your Breath

Our son has recently been diagnosed with Cough Variant Asthma, which means that every time he gets the slightest cold, he may have coughing for months with jags lasting as long as 45 minutes. That's an awful long time for a 3 year old to cough.

He has been suffering with this since he was a toddler, only we did not know what it was. We were told that it was normal for kids to cough a lot and given the usual array of medications. Some we tried, and some we thought were too intense for a toddler, so we toughed it out with over the counter meds and steam treatments. Now he is almost 4, and in some ways his condition seems more tenacious than ever... We feel only slightly more comfortable using the prescribed medications, Pulmicort and Prednisone, but thankfully we got a doctor who finally diagnosed it. We are not happy that our son has to deal with this condition, but we are relieved to that we have a firm diagnoses. We are not sure if these meds are going to work or not, we're only on day two.

The good news is that now Griffin has fully developed language skills, so we can also try some alternative methods. In my research, I came across a breathing method that is supposed to promote health in anyone who uses it, but was originally developed for people suffering from breathing disorders, like asthma. It's called the Buteyko Method, after the man who invented it, Dr. Buteyko.

The Buteyko Method of controlled breathing is right in line with ancient breathing practices like yoga and meditation breathing. This holistic technique is based on the idea that in general, we all breath too much, due to physical ailments or stress/anxiety. This is known as Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome. Practicing controlled breathing is a way to slow it down and let the mind and body get the full benefit of our breath. Over breathing (or breathing more than the medical norm) does not increase oxygenation of the arterial blood, but reduces oxygenation of vital organs (leading to tissue hypoxia) due to CO2 induced vasoconstriction.

At the core of the Buteyko method is a series of breathing exercises that focus on nasal breathing, breath-holding and relaxation. At present it is used to treat asthma, sleep apnea, snoring, and anxiety/panic attacks. These conditions are associated with disrupted or irregular breathing patterns and the Buteyko exercises aim to 'retrain' breathing to restore a more natural pattern. *Wikipedia*

Learn more about Buteyko Breathing:

Buteyko: A to Z

Buteyko Breathing

Applying Buteyko

TV Asia

Zenfrog Master... and his humble apprentice, Pepe

It truly is elegant

This is one of the most well written novels I've read in a very long time. It may be that I don't read enough novels... but I don't think so. Nope, this is just one of those books that does the magickal onion pealing thing with your senses, your heart and your mind so artfully that you want to just melt into the pages, absorbing it's sweet poetry.

I first heard an interview with Muriel Barbery, the author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog on NPR about a month ago. So when I saw it at Borders, I decided to pick it up. I began enjoying it from the very first page. I planned to continue reading it at Borders while Harley is at school or cheese out and get it at the library, but now that Muriel Barbery has earned my respect and my awe... whether I can afford it or not, she's earned my money too dammit! (Ok, my husband's money, but still)~ Do yourself a favor, give yourself a treat spend the fifteen bucks and meet the Hedgehog. She is exquisite... and yes, elegant.

"Am I really crazy? It’s all terribly confusing.”

These are photographs taken of Carl Jung's infamous "Red Book". Contained in it's pages are 16 years of CGJ's journeys through his own unconscious mind, meeting his soul, (a short fat professor!), walking in the land of the dead and more... This has to be a masterpiece, whether or not you are a fan... It is 100 years old and there is nothing else in the world like it. Sixteen years of documenting the unconscious mind. Just being able to access it at will and induce hallucinations to me, is phenomenal... but to think that this man not only did those things, but recorded his adventures.... that is discipline way beyond my feeble ability to comprehend. I just have to love the Swiss.

This quote was found in a self-published book written by one of Jung's former clients, in which she recalls his advice for processing what went on in the deeper and sometimes frightening parts of her mind....

“I should advise you to put it all down as beautifully as you can — in some beautifully bound book,” Jung instructed. “It will seem as if you were making the visions banal — but then you need to do that — then you are freed from the power of them. . . . Then when these things are in some precious book you can go to the book & turn over the pages & for you it will be your church — your cathedral — the silent places of your spirit where you will find renewal. If anyone tells you that it is morbid or neurotic and you listen to them — then you will lose your soul — for in that book is your soul.”

My guess is that it may take generations of study, if ever to get any answers from it... but it will teach volumes none the less. The word is it is going to be published soon. I can hardly wait!

The above quote was taken from a recent NY Times article. To read the full story, click: The Holy Grail of the Unconscious