Deeper messages by Dr. Stone

Remember the SNL bit…Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy?  Just to remind you…

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Basically, it's made up of two separate words — "mank" and "ind." What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why, so is mankind.

If you ever reach total enlightenment while you’re drinking a beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose.

I believe in making the world safe for our children – but not our children’s children, because I don’t think children should be having sex.

                Deep Thoughts-By Jack Handy

Ok, that’s fairly random, and just for fun…but I do have a point here.  

THINKING DIFFERENTLY…yeah…that’s my point.  

If I am having a problem, and I have plenty…I try to attend to it by thinking differently.  Many times, this requires the help of someone to do the thinking (assessment) for me.  When I was struggling with mold allergies, I was completely stuck in trying to think outside my own box and figure out what was going on.  Only when I asked someone else to look at the situation (with a unique way of thinking and processing the situation), was I able to break the pattern.  

I will never stop asking for help outside myself, but I have made some discoveries that sure make my life easier.  

For instance…my shoulder has been bothering me all day…a really sharp pain when I bring it out to the side.  It was “grabbing” and “pinching” when I was driving if I brought my left arm up to rest on the window, or if I reached up to the top of the steering wheel.  I brag about my low tolerance of pain…so it may have been a 2 for the tough guys…but it was a 7 for me (rating pain 0-10).  It had my attention. 

A common thought process would be a rotator cuff problem…or I slept on my arm funny (I hear this explanation all the time and still don’t know what the heck it means!)…or bursitis…tendonitis…maybe even a pinched nerve.  

A common action would be to take a –itis pill…-itises are inflammation, so advil or aspirin.  (I wonder who taught us that association!?)  If it lasts a week or month (depending on your pain tolerance), call the orthopedist, because it is a joint problem, or maybe a sports doctor, or a chiropractor.  If the joint specialists can’t fix your joint problem… “well, I am 40 something…I guess this is how 40 feels.  I’ll just drive with my right hand.” 

But I think differently…and one of those different thoughts is that symptoms are messages.  From eastern medicine associations, I know that shoulder pain is often immune stress.  And I know that association well, because I had an autoimmune disease at age 1, allergies most of my life…and curiously, my shoulders always hurt.  

And I DO differently…so when all the kids were in bed, I sat down and checked in.  

One of the major…and I mean biggest…stressors of the immune system is adrenaline.  Most people think of infections, allergens, even toxins…but fix adrenaline (if it’s a problem) and most of your immune problems fade away.  

As I checked in…I found a weakness of the infraspinatus muscle.  This is one of the rotator cuff muscles, and  it is also associated with the thymus gland.  When I tested adrenaline over the thymus reflex point, a strong muscle I was testing weakened.  When I held a supplement called AdrenalCalm, which is a constant in our “medicine” cabinet, the muscle strengthened.  

Now whether you understand muscle testing or not, here is the result…  I massaged the AdrenalCalm behind my knees, tapped a point for the adrenals, rubbed the thymus reflex…and the PAIN WAS GONE.  I can fling my arm up to the side, pain free.  

How is that for instant gratification…compared to Advil…orthopedist…chiropractor…massage therapist…and finally… admitting I’m old!?  

But, I’m not done!!  Are you kidding me…I just had a 7 out of 10 pain message.  It said I was stressed out.  It said I was suppressing my immune system.  Is a dose of AdrenalCalm and tapping ENOUGH?  Heck no…I have to soothe that stress response into optimal balance.  With a quick look at my stressors…I had doubled up on caffeine the last two days.  I almost always drink coffee, but I had a Monster energy drink the last 2 days on top of my coffee.  

I’m not recommending Monster energy drinks for health…I do it for pleasure and understand the consequence.  In fact, I almost always pour the drink over ice, and squirt a shot of Passion Flower in to “pay off the indulgence.”  Regulation had reported to me that I was still in debt…with the shoulder pain.  Thank you regulation for the warning…I don’t want to get into the allergy bit again!  

So…I may lay off the Monster drinks (I don’t do it too often more because of the splenda than the caffeine)…and I will definitely stay on the AdrenalCalm for awhile.  (Which you should have in your medicine cabinet too!)  And keep checking in on the infraspinatus weakness, which is a “sign” that I missed until the pain directed me to look.  I bet if I would have looked closely in the mirror, my shoulder would have looked slightly drooped and the hand would have been turned inward…long before the pain began.  

I don’t perseverate or agonize over my health (clearly…since I was busted drinking poisonous energy drinks for a “buzz!”)…I trust that Regulation will give me a message (like the shoulder pain), and if I know how to listen…and respond…Regulation won’t have to kick my butt to get my attention.  

Now…Deeper Messages by Dr. Stone…

If your hands get numb and some orthopedist names it Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a “bad” condition that needs scalpel discipline, perhaps you should love your pancreas, because this is an insulin problem.  (An extra dose of fish oils and protein every couple hours is a good start for insulin problems)

If your knee aches, and your orthopedist says a shaving and cleaning are required, perhaps you should be kind to your adrenals, because this is a cortisol problem.  (AdrenaCalm works on cortisol and adrenaline) 

If your low back “goes out,” consider inflammation or infection of the colon…especially if you have some bloating.  I have a product called Inf-Fighter in our medicine cabinet that is a good go to for tummy infections.  

Also, always consider your lifestyle.  Just a quick look at what I was doing revealed I wasn’t being very care-ful.  Don’t be perfect, but note where you are not “caring for” Regulation.  If you are like me, these little (or big) messages are there to adjust lifestyle as well as respond to the imbalance created with the lifestyle choices.  

  

These Deeper Messages will save you from feeling old (or coming to the conclusion that you ARE old)…suffering for great lengths of time…and wasting tons of cash on docs and therapists who will only consider your problem based on their specialty.  And I bet the knife doctors will find a “need” for surgery… and the pharmaceutical doctors will have a med for you…that’s the old, “if you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail” process.  

I…I will simply ask what regulation wants…and provide it (or recommend it).  Sometimes the need is an adjustment…or muscle work…or nutritional/herbal…and once I did find a need for surgical repair in one of my patients.  Most often, I find the associations I describe above…plus a little body work to heal the physical damage of being “out of balance.”

The "Ladder of Cause"

“I feel tired all the time…I’m so constipated…my hair is falling out…and I can’t lose this belly!!”

The understanding of why these symptoms exist is often… “I have a thyroid problem.”  I challenge you to wonder why you have a thyroid problem.  Why is the problem there?  This is the “one more question” concept I have written about for years that has allowed me to help people recover from having the problem. 

Let’s take it even further and keep asking why, like the little child who just won’t quit.  You know the one… “why is the sky blue…why does water reflect blue…why do our eyes see blue…why does the retina read it that way…why…why???” 

Rung one:  Why do I have these symptoms?  A: Your thyroid is broken.  They don’t say it quite this way, but that’s the just of it.  Call it hypothyroidism, a thyroid problem…whatever…it means your thyroid is broken.  

Rung two: Why is my thyroid broken?  A: Your body is in stress overload, and when the internal environment detects stress that is overwhelming and not being addressed, it slows down.  You are experiencing the slow down of thyroid function as a survival mechanism to deal with your stress.

Rung three: Why am I in stress overload?   We all have an individual stress threshold, which I call our “stress bucket.”  When this bucket is full, the body slows you down and gives you a smaller bucket…to protect your heart and brain.  (Most people know exactly what I mean…decreasing stress capacity… declining ability to handle life…that’s the overflowing and shrinking bucket)  What fills the bucket of course, are life’s little (and big) stressors, but oh, so much more.  This bucket is also filled by inflammation, blood sugar ups and downs, circulation and oxygen delivery problems, infections, food allergens, chemical sensitivities, and toxicity.  Plus, when you are stressed, your body gets more effective at producing stress hormones, so eventually, a little stress results in a BIG effect.  AND…stress causes inflammation… and… inflammation causes stress.  So, eventually, the negative process going on inside your body is “feeding” itself!  Sounds hopeless, but with a little understanding of how it works, we can step in and pull the “right” domino and stop the whole process! 

Rung four:  Why am I inflamed, oxygen deprived, or up and down with my blood sugar (or all three)?  There is always a first domino…sometimes it is life challenges, sometimes it is immune challenges, and sometimes it is lifestyle.  Life shows up inside us as cortisol and adrenaline, our “stress” hormones.  Immune challenges show up as a vast array of inflammation chemicals that I won’t even begin to bore you with specific names (although I do in other articles).  Lifestyle shows up as blood sugar and insulin problems, from eating the “wrong” foods too often, too much, and for too long.  (We all know “enough” about right and wrong foods to know if this is our first domino…sugar, white flour, processed fats, chemical laden foods…not natural foods.)

Rung five:  Why did I get stuck in such a harmful stress, inflammation, or insulin pattern?  We are all symptom suppressors.  It is taught to us as kids.  Our mainstream health care system practices symptom suppression medicine.  Our culture teaches us to work through the pain, and that suffering is virtuous.  Not absolutely…not in every family…but generally.  And if you have the above symptoms, or others, you most likely (in fact, I’ll take a big fat bet on it) approached your life and health this way.  You are probably much more aware now, probably eating healthy foods most or all of the time.  You did listen, and you did learn…but you have this stress/inflammation/insulin process feeding off itself inside you, and more than likely (another big fat bet), you have one or more organs that are completely exhausted and need reviving.  The kind of reviving that only targeted natural medicines can achieve.  

Rung six…seven…eight.  We could go further…Why is our culture and environment like that?  Why don’t we listen to our symptoms and try to nurture them?  What life patterns drain my reserves?  Why…Why?  

We have gone far enough (down the rabbit hole as they say in quantum physics) to attend to your specific needs.  AND…right now is NOT the time to concern yourself with culture issues or any issues outside yourself.  It is time to focus entirely (or much more so) on you…so that one day you can give that energy to your favorite and most passionate cause.  (Exciting thought isn’t it!)

How far do you want to go down the rabbit hole?!?  Your future depends on your willingness to dig and learn…and respond! 

Meeting Your Needs

If your symptoms are a message designed to notify you of a need, how do we decide what you are needing and then provide that to turn off the message?  If we can answer that question, we have a high probability of improving your health!

There are 3 levels of inquiring what these symptoms/messages mean.  

Level 1:  Your symptom questionnaires.  We have categorized hundreds of symptoms by system, organ, gland, and by areas of the brain.  If your scores are over 50% of the possible maximum score, we know that organ, gland, or area of the brain is under a great deal of stress and demanding care.  As you approach 80-100% of the total possible symptoms, we might say that area is “screaming” for attention.

Level 2:  Kinesiology.  If we are attempting to identify patterns of stress and inflammation, posture and muscle tone are simple to view.  Just stand up and notice that one shoulder is higher, the hips are twisted to the right, etc.  This observation provides clues to your internal patterns.  In order to move any joint in any direction, we know with absolute certainty that one muscle or muscle group has increased in tone, and the opposing muscle(s) have decreased in tone.  We locate the muscles decreased in tone (weaker), and begin to ask what this pattern of muscle change is adapting to (what you are needing).  

Level 3:  Blood Chemistry.  Your labs are a window into your internal patterns.  We can objectively identify patterns of stress in any organ or system.  These labs tell your story.  Not your life story, but where life has brought you to right this moment.  We can quantify the effects of stress and inflammation and see, by the numbers, the impact they have had on your health.  We can measure your most vital elements, oxygen and glucose, during every visit.   

Not only does this 3 tiered evaluation approach provide pointers and identify patterns, it then offers a target to shoot for.  Reduce symptoms by meeting the internal needs.  Balance posture and muscle balance through neurological and energetic treatments.  Balance blood chemistry by using food and nutrition to soothe, stimulate and nourish…followed by retesting to make sure we are achieving our goals.  

Physiological Needs

The basic needs of your cells… the building blocks of you… includes oxygen and glucose.  Stress and inflammation compromise both.  Glucose can be measured with a simple glucometer, and oxygen can be measured with a pulse oximeter.  We can instantly know if we have met your physiological needs through this in office testing.  These needs are so critical that you will not improve your condition without improving these numbers.  They are vital to survival, and vital to healing and growth.  If we can improve these two numbers, I would place a sizeable bet on your health improving.  

Other physiological needs include water, and nutrients, including protein and fats (healthy fats!), which are the building blocks of your body.  A rough analogy to a vehicle, which is what your body is for you, in part…the protein and fats are the steel and rubber, the glucose (carbohydrates) is the gasoline, vitamins and minerals are like the spark plugs, fiber for emissions, water for coolant…oxygen, like a vehicle, is needed to ignite the fuel.  Botanicals and herbs are like oil and gasoline additives…to improve performance!  

Like the title of my book asks… “When did Natural Become the Alternative?”  These are the needs that must be met to improve your health.  And if your health improves, regulation improves, performance improves…and sooner or later, if we keep meeting your greatest needs…you no longer qualify for the disease or condition you were diagnosed with.  

Emotional Needs

Your emotional needs, based on Five Element Chinese Medicine philosophy, can be summarized as Structure and Security, Acceptance and Inclusion, Nurturing and Support, Validation and Value, and Reassurance and Responsiveness.  And, YES, compromising these needs has physiological effects…meaning shifts in stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline.

Not achieving emotional needs ignites the stress response internally, just like danger, lack of oxygen, or blood sugar imbalances.  If we are good listeners, and respond the only way that is possible, by choosing a different action, you can meet and nourish all your emotional needs, just as you can nourish your body with improved oxygen and healthy nutrients.  

Structure and Security includes safety and boundaries.  Think of Charlie Brown, always being talked into kicking that darn ball, despite everything within him telling him “No!”  The result is pain.

Acceptance and Inclusion includes being part of something bigger than you…a part of a team.  Think of a caretaker type, doing so much for everyone else but not receiving any appreciation.  That hurts!

Nurturing and Support include close relationships that lift you up when you are down…knowing someone “has your back.”  No man is an island…think of people who are counter culture to the point that they offend others by making them wrong, ultimately pushing them away.  Ouch.

Validation and Value means being ok with who you are…possibly even liking you.  Think of the fixer who tries to make everything right for everyone else, only to receive resentment in response.  Frustrating!

Reassurance and Responsiveness includes the ability to face adversity and change direction.  Think of the overachiever who tries to please through getting things done, only to receive criticism in response.  Exhausting!

The key to emotional needs is good or bad habits.  Good habits, like honesty, asking for agreements, working on your message, working on your voice, you integrity…they lead to nourishing your emotional needs…they lead to growth.  

Poor habits, based on bad strategies, such as caretaking, invisibility, convincing, fixing, and overachieving…which are grounded in emotional pain, continue to erode your emotional needs until you withdraw, give up, or otherwise throw in the towel.  

Five element Chinese philosophy allows us to notice your negative patterns and design a plan to meet your needs.  IF, and that’s a BIG “IF” ….you allow yourself to notice the pain.  Bad strategies are all a plan to avoid the pain…either through accepting a burden or defending yourself, others, and ideas.  The problem is that these patterns are exhausting and compromise your health, by activating cortisol and adrenaline…a stress pattern…and activating your WORST genetic potential!  

Habits are nothing more than repetition, and with new repetition (and a willingness), you can begin a new habit today to meet your emotional needs.  And that feels GOOD! 

The Emotional Needs Survey

A while back, I asked for responses to:  What are your emotional needs?

It was very interesting to hear back from so many people.  I have the results listed below (I put similar answers in the same category):

1T. To be needed, appreciated, valued  16%
1T. To be loved, cared for, desired:  16%
3. To be heard, respected:  11% 
4T. To feel safe, secure  9%
4T. Bonding, touching, affection  9%
6. To give love  7%
7. Acceptance  7%
8. To be understood  4%
9. To feel connected to people  4%
10. Honesty, Trust, open communication  4%

And then with one vote each:  Process loss, grief….peace and solitude….Support, encouragement…. Passion…and, there are no emotional needs, only wants.  

I’d say this is a pretty good list, although I will put in my vote and suggest Growth, which I might describe as an improving ability to be authentic in the good times and bad.  My opinion is that passion was under-represented…but it is difficult to feel and give passion if you don’t feel appreciated, understood, safe, cared for, etc.  

The Five Element Chinese philosophy would say our needs are:

1.       Structure and Security

2.       Acceptance and Inclusion

3.       Nurturing and Support

4.       Validation and Value

5.       Reassurance and Responsiveness

Structure is what we teach our kids.  Boundaries.  Adults have boundaries too!  When you find yourself stepping on your boundaries, (or someone else is), it is stressful and exhausting.  People lacking structure tend to have issues with thyroid and reproductive hormones…and without solid structure, find themselves being frustrated with their progress.  Good boundaries and structure are a must for good health.

Acceptance is feeling part of a whole.  Children who are left or abandoned have trouble with allergies and body pain, and giving and receiving love.  To feel included in something bigger than yourself is a human need.  (And this is where passion is birthed…as you feel wanted, needed, and desired…you feel safe to share your passions, which are, of course, not all sexual)

Nurturing is momma energy.  Children whose mother was less than nurturing tend to have problems with energy (our internal harvest) and issues with giving and receiving support, either through not asking or pushing people away.  Support is a must for good health.  

Validation is being ok.  This is a Dad energy, and people who had an absent father often struggle with self criticism, and autoimmune problems (talk about picking on yourself.  Being ok with who you are and really experiencing your value are basic human needs.  

Reassurance leads to knowing you can “do it.”  The child whose fears are invalidated rather than reassured tends to have blood sugar problems and problems taking action when things are tough.  Being able to respond to our lives is a growth process, and a must for good health.  

Surely there is no way to know with such clarity and certainty as our need for oxygen, water, and food.  But, we might get clues…when you feel nourished emotionally…energized…you are probably hitting on a need.  And, as the one person suggested, we can certainly get confused with wants…I might want a giant bowl of ice cream…and it is food…but do I feel energized and nourished after??   

These are also all considerations when I take on a client to create good health.  I validate their problems…I nurture them/care for them (thanks to my dad being absent I have a strong feminine energy…oops did I say that aloud!?).  I give them structure, and make sure they can do it (reassurance), and try to let them know that I am also just a bumbling person (with a useful gift), trying to make my way in life…using the wisdom of the five elements.  And we laugh at how silly we both are…it’s kinda fun! 

PS.  More votes and comments below!!