Small package

"When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a pretty small package."
– John Ruskin, author, art critic, social reformer (1819-1900)

Rejoice, give thanks, and sing

“…be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

- Ephesians 5:18-20

One of my favorite holiday traditions for these last two decades has been attending the St. Olaf Christmas Festival concert. The music quiets my distracted heart. Beautiful sounds and sights gladden my eager senses. Words telling the story of Jesus’ birth soothe my soul and bring me again to deep gratitude: the divine takes on human form!

Music seems to me to be the sublime entering our everyday physical world, and in many ways music benefits us. In this December holiday season of muc

h music, might you consider with me some of the effects music has on our well-being?

Science Daily reports on some research: “Music and mood are closely interrelated -- listening to a sad or happy song on the radio can make you feel more sad or happy. However, such mood changes not only affect how you feel, they also chan

ge your perception. For example, people will recognize happy faces if they are feeling happy themselves. A new study by researcher Jacob Jolij and student Maaike Meurs of the Psychology Department of the University of Groningen shows that music has an even more dramatic effect on perception: even if there is nothing to see, people sometimes still see happy faces when they are listening to happy mu

sic and sad faces when they are listening to sad music.”

{Find more on the therapy of music as the P.S. segment of this email.}

The opening orchestral number of the Christmas Festival concert was especially mood-modulating. It invoked a desire to breathe and flow with the pulsing acoustical movement. The music felt inspiring, like a soundtrack to an epic story, like it belongs to all of us.

I wanted to hear the sounds again so I searched for the piece, Edward Elgar’s Adagio “Nimrod” (Enigma Variations), on youtube.

On one of the selections I read: “Elgar wrote this piece for his friend Augustus Jaeger, who encouraged him to continue when about to give up composing in a fit of depression...”

Wikipedia entry on Enigma Variations tells us that “Nimrod” is the best-known large-scale composition of composer Edward Elgar “for both the music itself and

the enigmas behind it. Elgar dedicated the piece to ‘my friends pictured within,’ each variation being an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances.

” The friend, Augustus J. Jaeger, for whom Adagio “Nimrod” was written was a music editor and “…was a close friend of Elgar, giving him useful advice, but also severe criticism, something Elgar greatly appreciated. Remarkably, Elgar later related on several occasions how Jaeger had encouraged him as an artist and had stimulated him to continue composing despite setbacks. The name of the variation refers to Nimrod, an Old Testament patriarch described as "a mighty hunter before the Lord" - the name Jäger being German for hunter.

In 1904 Elgar told Dora Penny (“Dorabella”) that this variation is not really a portrait, but “the story of something that happened.”^[6] Once, when Elgar had been very depressed and was about to give it all up and write no more music, Jaeger had visited him and encouraged him to continue composing. He referred to Ludwig van Beethoven, who had a lot of worries, but wrote more and more beautiful music. “And that is what you must do...”"

That story causes me to wonder: what are the things that I must do? And how about you? What are the gifts and passions we bring to our world? {which calls to mind Frederick Buechner's words, “God calls us to where our great joy meets the world’s great need.”}

How might we benefit each other? (as Elgar’s friend did for him by encouraging words? or as Elgar did for me by composing his moving music?)

How might listening to the music of this season (or whatever music is of your preference) lift your mood and bring you to rejoice, give thanks, and sing?

May you listen to music that delights, may you listen to your deepest heart (I appreciated this thought expressed in one of the songs of the St. Olaf concert, words provided immediately below), and may you be most attentive to your many gifts in this month of December.

I wish for you a Merry Christmas (or merry whatever holiday you celebrate), a grand new year, and all goodness and love.

Deepest Heart

Morning dawns, the moment of wonder,

The threshold of darkness and light.

The cardinals, the robins ask to “be.”

God answers, “Yes,” and opens their eyes.

The birds begin to dance and sing.

When Gabriel told Mary of God’s plan, she was filled with doubt and fear.

The angel assured her, “So it will be.”

She listened to her deepest heart.

“Here I am, the servant of the Lord.” “Here we are!”

Help us to see the sacred place in ev’ry heart,

Where God’s truth and glory meet our despair,

Where the angels say, “Do not be afraid,”

Where God has planted the seed of love.

God calls us to open our eyes,

To see the Divine in ourselves and each other,

To welcome the stranger, say “Yes” to the outcast.

May the loneliness and the darkness of this life

Vanish in love’s healing light.

Let us dance and sing with the first birds of morning.

God is with us, God of love.

God, our help, and God our light.

- David Bengtson

PS: If you're interested, here’s some research on the therapeutic benefits of music:

[Note: Some of these claims are well-substantiated with research, others are not as completely (based on my brief look at some of the literature). You might want to do your own research…]

*A scientific study by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London has found that patients who listen to live music need less drugs and recover more quickly than those who do not. According to Dr Rosalia Staricoff, who carried out the study, there is growing scientific evidence that music aids physical changes which can help heal the body. She said: "The physiological benefits have been measured. Music reduces blood pressure, the heart rate, and hormones related to stress." An Israeli study, presented to the British Psychological Society conference in Leeds, found live music was more effective than recorded.

* Mark Jude Tramo, with colleagues in the Harvard Program in Neuroscience, claim that music therapy may benefit patients in every phase of life, beginning with premature infants. “Babies in neonatal ICUs are isolated in incubators,” he says. “They can’t see well and are subjected to an acoustically stressful environment because of all the monitor alarms going off.” Some studies suggest, he adds, that music can help premature infants gain weight faster, avoid cardiopulmonary distress, and leave the ICU sooner…

Some studies have suggested that exposure to music can modify the widely fluctuating blood pressure that many coronary bypass patients experience postoperatively. Other studies indicate that music can help calm aggressive behavior, a common problem with Alzheimer’s patients.”

*Ralph Spintge, MD, PhD, Chairman of Algesiology/Interdisciplinary Pain Medicine and Executive Director of the International Society for Music and Medicine in Germany, states, “Music is a significant complementary tool in prevention, therapy, and rehabilitation providing medical and socioeconomic benefits.” A few examples of economic impacts: “… reduction of sedative usually used...such as regional anesthesia down to 50% of the usual dosage…shortening the duration of stay on an average of 3 days in an Intensive Care Unit for premature infants…earlier discharge of elderly patients after eye-surgery…”

*David Todres, M.D. Chief, Pediatric Ethics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, MA, asserts that “Music has been of beneficial effect on patients' experience of pain,¹ allaying preoperative anxiety in children,² acting on the autonomic nervous system by reducing heart rate, blood pressure and pain postoperatively,³ and having a positive effect after acute myocardial infarction.⁴ Music reduces anxiety and pain following open-heart surgery in adults.⁵ In a study of pain following abdominal surgery, the introduction of both relaxation and music was effective in reducing the degree of pain.⁶ Music's effect in blunting pain works through the gate-control theory of pain by acting as a competing stimulus that distracts the patient and directs the patient's attention away from the pain, thus modulating noxious stimuli. Imaging studies of the brain have shown activity in the auditory pathway, auditory cortex and limbic system in response to music. Music has been shown to lower increased stress levels and, with certain types of music, such as meditative or slow classical, to produce a reduction in neurohormonal markers of stress.” (Follow this article link for references and to learn of more therapeutic effects of music.)

P.P.S: If you're interested in hearing the St. Olaf concert: options are outlined on “Broadcast Information” page of the 2011 St. Olaf's website for ChristmasFest details. (You can also download the Festival Program there.)

And go here for online streaming of the concert via classical MPR.

Enjoy a little

The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much. -William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)

Instead of mindless eating

“I like to practice voluntary simplicity… and make sure nourishment comes at a deep level. It involves intentionally doing only one thing at a time and making sure I am here for it.”

– Jon Kabat-Zinn, “Wherever you Go There you Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”

With some major feasting holidays upon us in these year-end months, I’d like to focus on eating. How can we eat well when all around (and even within many of us) there’s such a tendency toward excess? Today I offer a suggestion: avoid mindless eating by eating mindfully.

This month’s wellness focus offers a few “tips” - maybe you’ve heard them before, but possibly hearing again may encourage you to give ‘em a try (or try again) – [And there's more at my blog from last November on “Less can be more” (I’ll refrain from repeating many of those here).]

TO START -

Model your plate of food on these suggested plates. The USDA graphic, or even better, the ‘new’ “healthy eating plate” addresses specific portion and food selection issues. Follow these links to Harvard’s nutrition site that includes tips for eating right, to learn some recipes and tips for stocking a healthy kitchen, read of nutrition in the news (such as "Healthier Diet, Stronger Sperm?"), and more.

From Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab's tipsheet:

Treat yourself – to fewer sweets by putting them farther away and/or out of sight. College secretaries ate twice as many chocolate kisses (9 versus 4) when these kisses were placed on their desk than when they were placed 6 feet away. They were also more likely to lose track of how many they had eaten.

Choose smaller packages or containers. Chicago moviegoers who were given large–size popcorn containers ate 45% more than those given medium–size containers. This even happened when they were given stale, 10 day old popcorn. Big packages encourage us to eat more, even if we don't really like the food.

CONTINUING ON –

Specifically, by location or event, here’s some suggestions - laid out in Brian Wansink's book "Mindless Eating" – that are based on his research:

At Meal times:

- Pre-plate the high-calorie food in the kitchen and leave the leftovers there. Only bring big bowls of veggies and salad to the table.

- Keep dinner classy by using nice dishes, but use smaller plates and taller glasses.

- Manage the pace: slow down so appetites can catch up with what’s been eaten; slow music can help.

- Avoid having too many foods on the table: the more variety there is, the more people will eat.

- Get into the habit of leaving something on the plate.

- Eat fruit for dessert instead of more indulgent choices.

About Snacking:

-Think “back”: put all those foods that aren’t good for you in the back of the cupboard, back of the frig, back of the freezer, or wrap them in foil. Store tempting foods in the basement, or repack them in non-opaque containers.

-Do not “prebuy” snacks for a future occasion.

-If you get a craving, think of a substitute. Buy a colorful variety of vegetables, precut them, and store them on the first or second shelf of the refrigerator.

-Chewing gum can distract you away from the 4 Cs: chips, cookies, ice cream, and candy.

-Only eat at the table – the one in the kitchen or the one in the dining room, rather than wolf things down over the sink or in front of an open frig.

-The only foods that should be out on the counter are the healthy foods: substitute a fruit dish for a cookie jar.

-Never eat directly from a package: always portion food out into a dish so you must face exactly how much you’ll eat.

For Parties:

-Stay more than an arm’s length away from the buffet tables and snack bowls.

-Put only two items on your plate during any given trip to the food table.

-Use the volume approach to make yourself feel full: chow down on the healthy stuff (veggies) and then see if you have room for the rest.

-When you think you’ll be distracted by an important (or fun) conversation, set the food down and give the conversation your full attention: the more you focus on people (and distractions) the more you’ll tend to eat (therefore, the suggestion to get the food plate out of easy reach).

For Desktop and dashboard diners:

-Brown-bag it: even if you only do this a couple of times a week, you’re ahead of the game because you’re in more control of your food choices.

-Stock your desk or lunchroom refrigerator with yogurt, cheese, nuts, or pop-top cans of tuna fish: protein can take the edge off a snack attack.

-Turn off the computer or pull the car over while you eat. If you focus on what you’re eating, you might even discover that you don’t really like vending-machine or convenience-store food.

-Use food policies and food trade-offs: for example, the first thing you eat at work is fruit; or eating an indulgent snack means taking a walk during your break.

-Chew gum to prevent eating from boredom or stress.

-Replace every other soft drink with water. Offices tend to be dry. We think we’re hungry when instead we’re simply thirsty. Fill up your water bottle a number of times each day.

I must admit, sadly, that too many of these suggestions are ones I do not yet follow (for one thing, I love chocolate and desserts!). But still, we can start today, and start small. Wansink suggests: Focus on one goal at a time, select three small habit changes, form a simple concrete plan and write it down, modify the plan as needed.

And in Eating Mindfully, Susan Albers (follow this link for a Diet and Nutrition Assessment, understanding food as medicine, and how to eat mindfully) recommends starting with one mealtime: breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Choose a specific location to eat, such as your table or the lunchroom at work. Sit quietly. Don't get up, and don't answer the phone. Have all the food you intend to eat on the table in front of you before starting. To be mindful you must give your full attention to your eating. You must focus on the process of eating and enjoying your meal.

We might possibly also look at all that we’re attending to this month: not just with food, but also in outlook. Maybe we can see, that is, ‘take in’ by giving attention to, more of the good around us, and be grateful!

May you realize anew the wholeness that is you, and observe your body (what do I eat, sense, take in?), your mind/soul (why do I give certain things my attention?), and your spirit (where do I find ultimate sustenance?).

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” – Jesus, Matthew 4:4

Good writing

"The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or a new thing in an old way."
- Richard Harding Davis, journalist and author (1864-1916)

I recently read an etymology - and it resonates with me - on the word "religion": the derivation comes from ligare "bind, connect," probably from a prefixed re-ligare, i.e. re (again) + ligare or "to reconnect."

I like this idea of religion being about reconnecting. Reconnecting to ourselves and to God can be enhanced through what I read. Good writing both makes me think, and reconnects me to self, world, and spiritual other-worldly. This Richard Rohr writing draws me to think, seems to say an old thing in a new way, and re-connects me with God/wisdom.

"The essential religious experience is that you are being “known through” more than knowing anything in particular yourself...

We call this new way of knowing contemplation, non-dualistic thinking, or “third-eye” seeing. Such prayer, such seeing, takes away your anxiety about figuring it all out fully for yourself, or needing to be right about your formulations.

At this point, God becomes more a verb than a noun, more a process than a conclusion, more an experience than a dogma, more a personal relationship than an idea. There is Someone dancing with you now, and you are not afraid of making mistakes."

Adapted from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, p. 23

Only look, and see

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to the body and soul.” – John Muir

I’ve had lovely opportunities to be outside lately – enjoying the ocean beach, walking some Iowa state park trails during an annual camping trip with friends, strolling at the Arboretum and playing today with grandson Noah and Opa Gregg at the “big park.” I’ve talked about it before (May 6, 2009 blog post), still I’d like to encourage us again to look and see the goodness of "outside" in this October 1^st Wednesday wellness email.

Consider these words --

“The cognitive benefits of nature — even if it’s just a hint of nature like a poster or a potted plant — are many and have been tallied by a number of recent studies. University of Michigan researchers Marc Berman, John Jonides and Stephen Kaplan wanted to quantify the effects of ART. [ART – Attention Restoration Theory – posits that spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature, helps refocus the mind and revive the spirit.] Students were given long tests of sequences of numbers to repeat in reverse then sent on walks — half the study participants on a nature walk and half on a city walk. Upon re-testing, the nature walkers’ scores improved significantly while the city walkers’ did not. The experiment was repeated so that each student walked in nature and in the city, and everyone’s score was better after the nature walk.”

Scores showed short-term memory improving by 20% after an hour interacting with the outside. The researchers also tested the same theory by having subjects sit inside and look at pictures of either downtown scenes or nature scenes and again the results were the same: when looking at photos of nature, memory and attention scores improved by about 20%, but not when viewing the urban pictures.

There is some question around the benefits of seeing “virtual” nature. Researchers from the University of Washington’s Human Interaction With Nature and Technological Systems Lab got mixed results from two studies: One study showed plasma nature windows providing low-level restorative benefits, another study showed them no more restorative than a blank wall. So even though there i

s some ambiguity, consider using a beautiful natural scene as a screen saver: it couldn’t hurt and possibly might help.

Certainly, whenever possible, take a walk outside – for your break, over the lunch hour, in the evening, or whenever you can – especially during these gorgeous fall days.

This month may you see much beauty, may your powers of attentiveness ever increase, may you experience God's glory in

nature, and may you be always well.

Look and See

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back

of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

the duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was

laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we

only look, and see.

– Mary Oliver

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.” –King David, Psalm 19: 1-2 The Message paraphrase

Simplicity

In honor of my dear hubby's birthday - yes, it is today - here's a little piece of wisdom that
- Gregg models in life, and that
- is from one of his 'heroes' of inventiveness and artistic creativity.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
-Leonardo da Vinci,
painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (1452-1519)

Managing stress

How do you take care of yourself?

In this beginning of another academic year many of us are presented with a different work load and possibly new stressors, and most of us have less me-time. For this first Wednesday wellness email I want to give a nod to self-care, again. In July I spoke of pursuing soothing touch of massage and safe places of loving listening. This month the focus is on caring for self by managing stress.

I’ve been preparing to share a few ideas on caring well for self to a demographic that doesn’t easily think of self first (or much at all? the group: nursing students who are also Christ-followers). My sharing on nurturing self will look at being

1) attentive to body – learning to tune in to signals and short-circuit a stress response;

2) accepting in mind/soul – being intentionally awake, aware, and non-judgmental in the moment; and

3) appreciative in spirit – fostering gratitude and joy.

(If you want to see some self-care activities they’ll eventually be posted on http://naturallyyoursforgood.net – though they’re not presently since its server is down! In the meantime, I'll post them over the next few days on http://deesdirt.blogspot.com with the first one posted just yesterday.)

Certainly caring for ourselves involves – as a key factor – managing stress. The September/October 2011 issue of Scientific America MIND offers a slightly different slant for stress management than the ones I’ve heard before that primarily promote relaxation techniques and thought management. Robert Epstein, as relayed in the article “Fight the Frazzled Mind” found that prevention is by far the most helpful competency when it comes to managing stress; and second most powerful stress-management predictor is source management. You ask (as did I): What do you mean by prevention? Or source management?

Prevention would be such things as planning your day or year, trying to avoid stressors before they can affect you: saying yes to “I keep an up-to-date list of things I’m supposed to do.” “I spend a few minutes each morning planning my day.” “I have a clear picture of how I’d like my life to proceed over the next few years.”

Source management involves practices such as delegating tasks, organizing your space, and scheduling your time well: saying yes to “I have adequate shelf, file, and drawer space to serve my needs.” “I consistently put important tasks ahead of unimportant tasks,” “I try to schedule appointments and meetings so that they won’t overlap.” “I have no trouble keeping my work area organized.”

If you’re curious as to how well you are managing stress, you can go to http://MyStressManagementSkills.com to take a 28-question test.

[I took the test – my total stress-management competency score is 65% (I have no idea how that compares to the general population, so I’m certainly not braggin’). I got higher scores in “manages or reduces sources of stress” (79%) and “practices relaxation techniques” (75%), not-an-awful score for “plans and prevents (67%), and a not-so-good-at-all score for “manages thoughts” (38%). Yep, more therapy for me.]

Epstein’s study shows that 1) people who have training in stress management are better at it than people who have not, and that 2) the greater the number of training hours, the better the skills. “One of the most dramatic results of the new study was a high positive correlation between test scores and the overall level of happiness people reported. To put it another way, the study suggests that nearly 25% of the happiness we experience in life is related to – and perhaps even the result of – our ability to manage stress.”

Here’s a few strategies for fighting stress before it starts, offered in the journal article and suggested by the new study (so sorry, no link provided – I can’t find a reference for this new study, even though I searched Epstein’s most recent cv online – boy, he’s being elusive on this one, but for what it's worth, here's the Scientific American MIND teaser):

1. “Seek and kill – take a few minutes every day to identify stressors in your life and find ways to reduce or eliminate them – cell phone battery dying? Get a new phone.

2. Commit to the positive. In our culture, people often try to cope with stress in self-destructive ways, mainly by drinking, taking drugs, or overeating. Commit to avoiding the self-destructive solutions - for a day, a week, or whatever you can handle – and replace them with positive, healthful ways of managing stress.

3. Be your own personal secretary. People who keep lists of things to do really do more things. So use your smartphone or, in a pinch, a pen and paper (like old-fashioned me!) to keep a list of things you need to do.

4. Immunize yourself. Through exercise, thought management, and the daily practice of relaxation techniques, you will be in a better position to face stressors without feeling stress.

5. Make a little plan. Spend a few minutes every morning planning your day. You will waste less time, get more done, and feel less stressed.

6. And make a big plan. The famous behavioural psychologist B. F. Skinner not only planned his day and year, he even maintained a 10-year planner. Planning your future is a great way of exercising more control over your life. The more control you have, the less stressed you will feel.”

Okay, so I’ve been told, numerous times, that control is an illusion. Hmmm. Maybe an occasional illusion or two helps us a bit? I guess we'll all get to experiment in this area of taking control of our days and handling life’s stressors.

And as we try out various strategies, we can look at the fruit of our choices – does what I do or think (or don’t do or think) help or harm? Does it lead me toward fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23? Does it bring me to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control?

Attentive to body

As a way to care for yourself, try this -

Be attentive to your body – learn to tune into signals and short-circuit a stress response

"We can choose how we respond to stimulation coming into our sensory systems... There are certain limbic system (emotional) mechanisms that can be triggered automatically (such as anger) but “it takes less than 90 seconds for one of these programs to be triggered, surge through our body, and then be completely flushed out of our blood stream…within 90 seconds of the original trigger, the chemical component of my anger has completely dissipated from my blood and my automatic response is over. If, however, I remain angry after those 90 seconds have passed, then it is because I have chosen to let that circuit continue to run. Moment by moment, I make the choice to either hook into my neurocircuitry or move back in to the present moment, allowing that reaction to melt away as fleeting physiology.” - Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight (p 146)

Relaxed breathing: Sit comfortably in your chair, possibly straightening your back and putting both feet on the floor. First, take a normal breath or two. Now, breathe slowly and deeply – in through the nose and out through the mouth – letting your abdomen swell as you breathe in, and fall as you breathe out. Stomach breathing involves primarily the diaphragm and is more efficient.

You might want to close your eyes if it helps. Place your hands gently over your stomach. Imagine you are filling your stomach with air, while you hold your ribcage and collarbone mostly still. With every inhalation let your belly expand, and let it deflate upon exhalation. Take deep, slow abdominal breaths in through the nose, out through the mouth. Slowing the breath and breathing in through the nose releases nitric oxide from the storage passages in the nose, which helps bring about decreased heart rate and blood pressure, lessening of muscle tension, and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Lower stress hormones increases antibodies and thus immunity, and helps us response rather than react to our situations, and creates space for a responsing to God.

Your astonishment

One definition of vocation:

"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your astonishment."
- Annie Dillard

Germ-y decisions

I recently had two germ-y decision opportunities:

1) A few weeks ago I had breakfast with family in my Iowa hometown at a downtown diner with gobs of local flavor and yards of sticky carpet. Germs galore? An unspoken question among us as we walked along the tachy aisle-way was whether we’d stay and eat in this place of dis-clean.

2) Early last week I went to my eye doctor to check out an irritated devilish-red left eye, and got a diagnosis of viral infection. He gave me two options: let time and my body’s immune system hopefully work their magic while chancing the possibility of spreading the virus to the other eye and/or giving a nasty bacteria an opportunistic moment to stick a finger in my eye, or start a 10-day regime of steroid/antibiotic eye drops to quiet the symptoms and fend off any nasty bugs.

I’ll reveal the choices made later in this message. Before that, please let me say that, like anyone, I agree that the discovery of antibiotics was a huge breakthrough and has saved lives. Let me also say that it seems we often overuse -even abuse- good things, and antibiotics certainly fall in that category. Some of you have heard me rant before about overuse of antibiotics, specifically antimicrobial wipes – and here I go again.

Scientific American Mind guest blogger Rob Dunn writes:

“…along with her colleagues, Allison Aiello, a professor at the University of Michigan, recently surveyed all of the experimental or quasi-experimental studies published in English between 1980 and 2006 on the effectiveness of different hand washing strategies [full article]. Aiello focused on studies that compared different strategies, for example the use of normal soap versus the use of antibiotic soap, in terms of their effect on the probability of developing gastrointestinal or respiratory illness…

Aiello and colleagues found that antibiotic soaps and wipes with triclosan (and the chemically similar triclocarban are the main compounds in antibiotic products) were no more likely than good old-fashioned soap to prevent gastrointestinal or respiratory illness…

For example, in a study Aiello reviewed that was conducted in Pakistan, gastrointestinal illnesses were reduced by half when people washed their hands with soap and by a little less than half when they washed their hands with antibiotic soap. What is worse, perhaps the most comprehensive study of the effectiveness of antibiotic and non-antibiotic soaps in the U.S., led by Elaine Larson at Columbia University (with Aiello as a coauthor), found that while for healthy hand washers there was no difference between the effects of the two, for chronically sick patients (those with asthma and diabetes, for example) antibiotic soaps were actually associated with increases in the frequencies of fevers, runny noses and coughs. In other words, antibiotic soaps appeared to have made those patients sicker. Let me say that again: Most people who use antibiotic soap are no healthier than those who use normal soap. AND those individuals who are chronically sick and use antibiotic soap appear to get SICKER.”

[Dunn also writes of an insidious downside to overuse of antibiotic products: “Triclosan kills “weak” bacteria but favors the tolerant, among them species of bacteria that eat triclosan…may also favor lineages of bacteria that are also resistant to the oral antibiotics used in hospitals and elsewhere…In many municipal water supplies triclosan can now be found in relatively high concentrations. Those high concentrations affect the microbes that are always present in water, but also appear to act as endocrine disrupters in fish.”]

So, in conclusion: wash your hands, with plain ol’ soap. Embrace the good germs (native flora that act as a kind of defensive layer), and trust your body to fend off the bad ones. Fortify your immune system. [My overarching conviction is that if we can keep our immune systems strong we’ll keep the nasty bug population at bay. I realize that there are plenty of folk who have compromised immunity for a variety of reasons, and this is not to diss them or their bodies in any way…rather it’s to acknowledge that the fantastic intruder-fighting mechanisms that God gave our bodies work well for most.]

Time to reveal my germ-y choices.

1). At the hometown, small town, downtown diner – we ate and enjoyed breakfast (in full disclosure I must admit that I ordered my eggs scrambled rather than over-easy in hopes of heating away any lurking salmonella critters, but the others who ingested runny egg yolk all stayed well!).

2). I opted for the steroid/antibiotic drops. Wimpy, I know.

In closing, I offer just a few ideas to boost your immune system (this list is NOT all inclusive, and most of these you’ve heard before; hopefully a reminder of these basic good health practices is welcome) --

In the physical realm:

-eat colorful and whole foods (antioxidants are our friends),

-limit intake of simple sugars (I’m told they promote the growth of bad bugs),

-move your body (exercise helps with almost everything!),

-get 7 to 8 hours of sleep nightly (here’s a bonus: a benefit of adequate sleep beyond immune boosting is found in this interesting article that asserts getting an average of 7 hours of sleep per night is just right for optimal cognition, and that people who got too little or too much sleep showed a loss in brain function that was like aging 4 to 7 years).

In the mental/emotional realm: manage stressors by cultivating gratitude, practice mindfulness (see the post of almost two years ago that also addressed this topic of boosting immunity, partly by monitoring our thinking; and this site for gobs of research studies into mindfulness).

In the spiritual realm: foster community and love. I have no research to share in this moment (give me enough time though and I’ll find something) to support this idea, just insight from living. I’ve lately appreciated the words of Romans 12:9-21, especially as The Message paraphrase puts them, and I’ll close with them below.

Before that, please accept my wishes for ever stronger immune systems, days filled with good choices, times of restorative summer leisure, and always lots of love. Dee

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. – Romans 12: 9-21

Learn something

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him."

- Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642)

Pursue self-care

The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well. – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Once a year is how often I allow myself to get a massage. I may want to change my ways. According to a randomized controlled trial that the Annals of Internal Medicine published in the July 5 issue, in comparing structural (focused on specific pain-related soft tissues) and relaxation (Swedish) massage, the trial found that both types of massage worked well to ease chronic low back pain and improve function, as compared to the “usual care” of medications.

As reported online at Science Daily, for the study group of 400 Group Health Cooperative patients:

“The hour-long massage treatments were given weekly for 10 weeks. At 10 weeks, more than one in three patients who received either type of massage -- but only one in 25 patients who got usual care -- said their back pain was much better or gone. Also at 10 weeks, a questionnaire showed nearly twice as many massage patients (around two thirds) as usual-care patients (more than one third) were functioning significantly better than at the trial's outset. Patients in the massage groups spent fewer days in bed, were more active, and used less anti-inflammatory medication than did those with usual care.”

Speculations as to the reasons why the massage helped include – specific effects of tissue stimulation that may calm the central nervous system; or non-specific effects of a person playing an active role in their own healing in receiving touch, spending time in a relaxing environment, receiving care from a compassionate therapist, or becoming more aware of their own body.

Other studies have found, to mention just a few good results, a positive effect on pain and mood for advanced cancer patients, easing of anxiety, and modified immune response (lymphocyte changes, decrease in stress hormone cortisol and in inflammatory cytokines).

Summer seems to be at least partially about restoration. Maybe this month we can all pursue healing touch (getting a massage or finding other soothing touch and relaxing environments) to rejuvenate: it may well contribute to self-care for our body and psyche.

I’d like, in this July 1^st Wednesday wellness email, additionally to offer a suggestion for self-care of our soul and spirit – and that is to pursue safe places.

Find people and places that cause you to feel protected and loved and cared for. Or be a listening presence that provides a safe space for another.

While reading an article in the July 2011 issue of “Listen: A Seeker’s Resource for Spiritual Direction” I learned that according to legend, it was the ancient Greeks that coined the word agape (the Biblical New Testament Greek word for God’s selfless affectionate benevolent good will love) “as an antidote to their warring ways, and literally translated, it means ‘When you are in my territory, I will make you safe.’” Sue Magrath, the article’s author, goes on to say, “it is entirely congruent with our ideas about God’s love. When we enter into the kingdom of God, which is always and everywhere around us, we are kept safe by the love of a compassionate God, a God who walks with us in every time and place, sharing our burdens and offering comfort and hope.”

Like God, since God lives in and through us humans, we can listen with care and love to provide a safe place for the people around us. And we can receive the gift of being listened to and loved. Both being listened to, and listening to another in love, help me get beyond myself, which to me is a goal of self-care: taking care enough of myself so as to be able to overflow in agape care for others, and share the love of God.

May you too experience privilege and gift as you give and receive -- good touch, and safe loving listening.

"‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

- Jesus, Mark 12:30-31

Any use

"Think of the poorest person you have ever seen and ask if your next act will be of any use to him."

-Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

A better person

“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” – Thomas Jefferson

For this June 1^st Wednesday wellness email, I invite you to consider some studies reported in a Scientific American online article “How the Illusion of Being Observed Can Make You a Better Person” –

“A group of scientists at Newcastle University, headed by Melissa Bateson and Daniel Nettle of the Center for Behavior and Evolution, conducted a field experiment demonstrating that merely hanging up posters of staring human eyes is enough to significantly change people’s behavior. Over the course of 32 days, the scientists spent many hours recording customer’s “littering behavior” in their university’s main cafeteria, counting the number of people that cleaned up after themselves after they had finished their meals. In their study, the researchers determined the effect of the eyes on individual behavior by controlling for several conditions (e.g. posters with a corresponding verbal text, without any text, male versus female faces, posters of something unrelated like flowers, etc). The posters were hung at eye-level and every day the location of each poster was randomly determined. The researchers found that during periods when the posters of eyes, instead of flowers, overlooked the diners, twice as many people cleaned up after themselves…

While the researchers have convincingly illustrated that displaying a mere image of human eyes is sufficient to actually alter real-life social behavior, the real question is how. Humans (and other animals) have a dedicated neural architecture for detecting facial features, including the presence of eyes…

Experiments have shown that people are unable to inhibit responses to gaze even when instructed to…neural activation of the gaze detection system is fast and automatic…

Robyn Dawes and colleagues showed in the 70s that the presence of other people in the room tends to have a positive effect on people’s decision-making when faced with a social dilemma. Yet, it wasn’t until a few years ago that Terence Burnham and Brian Hare published an article in Human Nature that showed people make more cooperative choices in economic computer games when they are “watched” on the screen by a robot with human-like eyes.”

What has your experience shown? Any change in course of action when being observed? These studies indicated an increase in cleaning up, helping socially, cooperating. What do you think: do we have a better sense of the greater good when we are watched by others? Might we even go so far as to say that we’re wired for community: as in made to care about and for one another?

I’ve had a tendency to do the right thing, but too often for the wrong reason - such as quieting my bully ego that wants to be thought well of, rather than simply ‘bettering’ the world by sharing some love. [An aside: my experience and others' research indicates that serving/caring/considering another is good for both the giver and receiver.]

These studies remind me that I’d like to more often do good things for good reasons – to love much whether I’m being observed or not. Want to join me in aiming to love well, even when no one is watching?

"Courage is doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24

Needs beauty

“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread; places to play in and pray in; where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

-John Muir