Jacob Holistic Healing

Writings and Reflections

Steer Yourself Out Of A Rut

Response-AbilityeResponse-Ability

Healthy Eating You Can Live With

Listening To Your Heart

Our Biology Is Not Our Destiny: Lifestyles Impact Genes

The African Violet Lady

Vitamin D:  A Key Component You May Be Missing

STEER YOURSELF OUT OF A RUT: How to Create the Changes You Desire

Imagine that you are driving on a poorly- maintained dirt road filled with deep ruts created by cars passing by, day after day.  Each passing car makes the ruts deeper, making it almost impossible to drive between or outside of the ruts.  In fact, the thought of turning your wheel to steer your car out of the rut might be scary and it feels safest to just stay where you are.  . 

              Well, our minds operate much like the drivers on this road.  Every recurrent thought or emotion, response, reaction, and pattern of behavior creates ruts, technically known as neural pathways.  Many of these neural pathways serve our well being, so that we don’t have to think about brushing our teeth, buckling our seat belts, or stopping at a red light.  Or course, we all had to learn these things but with repetition they have become automatic and it would be uncomfortable not to do them. 

However, many of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are just as automatic and yet do not serve our best interests.  These pathways, keep us stuck in unwanted ways and get in the way of our ability to create positive healthy change in our lives.  Take an example related to eating patterns.  Do you begin your meals at home with a buttered piece of bread or roll?  Probably not.  Yet, many people reach for the ubiquitous bread basket delivered to the table at a restaurant and devour a piece of buttered bread even though they have ordered a full meal.  This rut - see bread basket- eat bread - adds 100-200 empty calories to your meal.  If repeated frequently, those calories add up to extra pounds.  Here’s another example: have you started something new, such as an exercise program, and then talked yourself out of it after a few days?  This is the neural pathway speaking, the pathway that keeps you stuck in the rut of the ways that you currently think about yourself or spend your time.  It feels more comfortable to maintain the status quo, just like it feels more comfortable to stay within the deep ruts on a dirt road.  In fact, you can expect to encounter tension or even resistance from your mind and body when you seek to change a thought, emotion, or behavior pattern, just as you would feel tension in steering out of a rut in the road. 

The good news is that neuroscience is showing us that our neural pathways are much more flexible than previously thought.  Each time we chose a thought, emotion, or behavior that is more in accordance with our desires we begin to create and then deepen desirable new pathways.  As we keep reinforcing these new pathways the old ones begin to disappear.  This is how many people develop life long exercise programs. They make a conscious choice to begin exercising regularly, perhaps to feel stronger, lose weight, or improve their health.  They experience resistance in the form of thoughts or feelings that suggest that it would be better to stay in bed, or that they can take today off, or that they’ve never been successful in the past and won’t be now.  However, if they actively push back against this resistance, tying on their athletic shoes and heading out, over time the pathways that kept them from exercising in the past begin to disappear and the new behavior of regular exercise becomes as automatic as brushing their teeth.

The first step toward positive change is recognizing any negative ruts that you are in.  Once you recognize them, you can take active steps to counter the thoughts or  emotions that kept you stuck in your previous patterns.  Don’t be surprised by the resistance you encounter and remind yourself that any tension or stress you feel is the old pathways speaking.  Remembering that it takes time to create new, more desirable neural pathways, you can feel good each time you take the desired action until one day you find the resistance is gone and you’ve changed in the way you desired.  Know that each time you make a healthier choice it becomes easier and easier to make the next choice a healthy one too, until unhealthy choices become a thing of the past. 

Response-Ability
Have you ever had the sense that you are moving through your day handling one responsibility after another as if on automatic pilot? Perhaps you sometimes respond in unhealthy ways, such as eating junk food just because it is available, or yelling at your computer for being slow. It might help to consider that the word responsibility can be broken into response and ability. Within the chaos of life we always have the ability to choose our responses. While a stressful situation, such as someone cutting you off in traffic, may cause a release of stress hormones, the hormones dissipate within 90 seconds and any reaction after that is really up to you. You have the ability to choose a healthy response such as taking a deep breath and relaxing or allowing a momentary stress to affect your mood and your health. Try reminding yourself frequently that your responses are up to you.

Healthy Eating You Can Live With

Research shows that traditional diets based only on calorie counts, do not yield long-tem weight loss. A healthy eating plan, instead, emphasizes delicious, and nutrititious foods such as vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and small amounts of healthy fats. When you feed your body just the right amounts of the things it needs and reduce or eliminate the empty calories of many beverages, junk foods, and sweets you have a plan you can you can live with. What is “just the right amount?” If you slow down and pay attention while eating your body will tell you. It may be much less than the amount served in many restaurants. When you were a baby you knew when you were full and you stopped opening your mouth for more food. How about reawakening that instinct and stopping as soon as you feel full? Extra food can be saved for later. Remember, you are not a garbage disposal!!!

Listening To Your Heart

The following article was published in the Dec. 25 Detroit Jewish News:

 As a nurse, I was taught the importance of listening carefully to the rate, rhythm, and specific sounds of a patient’s heart.  It was fascinating to learn how much vital information about my patient’s health status could be gathered through the use of my stethoscope, knowledge, and listening skills.  Since my years as a cardiac nurse working with critically ill patients, my understanding of the heart has expanded beyond its physiological functioning to include its place in the human experience, in both a literal and metaphorical way. 

The very idea of a hospital unit called Cardiac Critical Care exemplifies the centrality of the heart to human survival.  Without a functioning heart, a person dies within minutes; so any threat to heart function is critical.  But, the heart is much more than a pump essential for maintaining life. If you take a second now to place your hand over the area where you feel love or joy or even fear in your body, chances are it will be near your heart.  Think about the common use of terms such as heartfelt, open hearted, broken hearted, heartsick, and heart ache.  These have little to do with the pumping of blood and much to do with deeply felt emotions.  No other organ in the body is connected so deeply with emotions.

In 2005, physicians identified a condition called stress cardiomyopathy, also known as broken-heart syndrome.  This syndrome involves a sudden and often severe decrease in the pumping ability of the heart, occurring in relation to physical or emotional stress.  Reported cases have included sudden loss of a loved one, marital conflict, pain, and even a surprise party!  Cardiologist Mimi Guarneri, in her book,  The Heart Speaks, writes about the links between emotions and heart disease.  She describes her professional journey from fixing clogged arteries with stents to an awareness that catheterization readings and cholesterol levels don’t tell the whole story.  She says “I have learned over the years, the deep stories carved into the hearts of patients can be told only by them.”  She believes now that true healing can only occur when patients attend to their emotions along with their physical health.  

Drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure are among the top selling categories of drugs in the US.  Yet, research has demonstrated that stress, depression and other emotional disruptions are even more dangerous risk factors for heart disease than cholesterol.  While physicians may not have the time or inclination to focus on these issues with their patients, each of us can tune into our own hearts and our own stories.  Meditation, relaxation, journaling, and counseling are all ways to improve our emotional health, which will have a positive impact on the health of our hearts, and thus our very survival.  What does your heart have to say?

Our Biology Is Not Our Destiny: Lifestyles Impact Genes

 The following was published in the September 25, 2008 Detroit Jewish News:

How many times have heard someone attribute their illness, behavior, or emotional style to heredity?   Many people think that the genes they inherited determine not only their height and eye color but also their happiness, health, and longevity.  The Human Genome project, which began in the 1990s was based on this type of thinking; called genetic determinism.  Scientists hoped that mapping the entire human genome would lead to the identification of the genetic causes of disease and the development of new treatments.  They expected to find 120,000 or more human genes, which they believed would account for all of the complexity of the human organism.   Imagine their surprise when they found only 23,688 human genes.  A primitive worm made up of 969 cells which is used for studying genetic has a genome of 24,000 genes.  If our genetic makeup is less complex than the worm’s, what accounts for our variability?

The search for an answer to this question has given birth to a new branch of science called epigenetics.  Epigenetics is the study of the sources of signals that turn genes on and off.  We are learning while that genetic makeup is not as individually distinct as once thought,  we vary greatly in the expression of our genes.  Genetic expression is impacted by factors such as nutrition, exercise, thoughts, emotions, social interactions, and spiritual connections.   One recent study found that practitioners of relaxation techniques had different patterns of gene activation as compared to non practitioners.  A similar difference was found in practitioners of Qi Gong, a technique based on energy flow and focusing the mind.  Evidence that these simple practices actually affect gene expression provides an explanation for the improvements seen in response to mind-body and energy therapies in conditions like pain and inflammation. Another large study found that people who lacked nurturing as children have an alteration in the expression of a stress-dampening gene in the brain, and have a much higher rate of many common illnesses.  If the stress-dampening gene is not functioning, these individuals may have an exaggerated response to stress and a greater release of the hormones that are known to cause damage in the body. 

This growing body of epigentics research is teaching us that our thoughts, feelings, nutrition choices, exercise habits, and social and spiritual interactions can be as critical to our health as the genes we were born with.  Optimal nutrition, exercise, relaxation techniques, energy healing, spirituality, and even kindness and nurturing are available to all of us.  While medication and surgery will always have their place in health care, we now have scientific rationale for using other gentle and safe techniques for optimizing our health. As Dawson Church, PhD states in The Genie In Your Genes  “When the doctor of the future tears a page off her prescription pad…the prescription might well be-instead of, or in addition to, a drug- a particular therapeutic belief or thought, a positive feeling, a gene-enhancing physical exercise, an act of altruism, or an affirmative social activity.”  We can all enhance our own health and healing by building these activities into our lives right now.  

The African Violet Lady 

The following is based on a talk by Bill O’Hanlon at the 2007 NICABM conference:

Research has defined four characteristics that are the best predictors of happiness;  social connections, optimism, appreciation, and purpose.  In studies done around the world, even those living in horrendous poverty rated high on the happiness scale if they had strong social connections.  Sol Gordon coined the term Mitzvah Therapy for activites that create social connections. A Mitzvah, in Jewish circles, is a good deed; something positive done to benefit others.  Given that doing such a deed necessitates a social connection and provides a purpose it is not surprising that it can result in greater happiness and healing.

Consider the following true story.  A withdrawn, depressed elderly woman was living alone in Milwaukee.  Milton Erickson, psychiatrist and hypnotherapist, paid her a visit, upon the request of her nephew.  The nephew said his aunt used to be active in her church but had stopped participating due to her mobility issues, and he was concerned that she was preparing to die.  The woman showed Dr. Erickson around her large home which he noted was well adapted for her wheel chair but had all of the shades and curtains drawn, giving it a dark and dreary atmosphere.  The only bright spot in the home was the attached greenhouse which was full of African violets.  The woman asked Dr. Erickson if he could help her and Erickson replied, “You don’t need my help, your problem is that you are not a very good Christian woman.”   You can imagine that got the woman’s attention.  He went on , “What I prescribe for you is that you take a close look at your church bulletin every month and if you see that someone has had a happy occasion or a sad one, you have your driver take you and one of your beautiful African violets to the home so that you can pay a visit to express your congratulations or condolences.”  Being motivated to act as a good Christian, the woman took Erickson’s advice and paid such visits to members of her church.  Many years later, there was a headline in the Milwaukee newspaper; African Violet Lady Dies, Thousands Attend Her Funeral.

Perhaps it is time to discover the African violets of your own life or to help others find theirs.  As Gandhi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” 

Vitamin D:  A Key Component You May Be Missing

Vitamin D has been much in the news lately.  Research is demonstrating its critical role in cancer and diabetes prevention, neurological function, bone health, and immune balance.  Many common chronic illnesses have been linked to vitamin D deficiency.   However, research is also demonstrating that most people are deficient in this vitamin.

Vitamin D is unique in that we get a small amount of it from food and some is produced in the body in response to sunlight.  Warnings against sun exposure over the last several years, and the increased use of sun blocking agents have likely contributed to the widespread deficiencies. 

There are three sensible actions to take to make sure you optimize your vitamin D levels and receive all of its health benefits.  The first is to have your blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D measured.  Optimal levels are at least 30ng/ml.  Some health professionals are now measuring vitamin D levels routinely but it is best to ask your provider to make sure this is included in your care.  If your level is very low you may need larger doses than recommended for the general public, and because this is a fat soluble vitamin, blood levels may need to be monitored.  

The second step is to take vitamin D3 supplements.  Food sources of vitamin D include fish, some mushrooms, and fortified foods such as milk and orange juice.  However, it is difficult to get sufficient amounts from food only.  Experts suggest that both children and adults need 1000 IU of vitamin D3 per day. 

The third recommendation is sensible sun exposure, which means 10-15 minutes of arm and leg exposure 2-3 times per week.  It is best to always wear sunscreen on your face and hands, to avoid damage of these areas. Of course, this recommendation is difficult to follow in cold weather, so soak up the sun when you can and use supplements to keep your blood levels optimized.

If you are troubled by chronic illness, frequent infections, muscle or bone aches, or neurological symptoms it is prudent to investigate vitamin D levels, along with using other healing techniques. Let’s make sure we are giving our bodies all that they need to function optimally.