Alchemy of Illness's topics - tribe.net

Mind Body Spa in April

2008-03-05T21:25:21Z

Mind Body Spa
Intentional Eating Retreat
in Gearhart on the Oregon Coast
April 18-19-20, 2008
6:00 p.m. Friday to 4:30 p.m. Sunday

From food all creatures are produced
And all creatures that dwell on earth
By food they live
And into food they finally pass
Food is the chief among beings... Verily he obtains all food
Who worships the Divine as food
from the Taittiriya Upanishad

Intentional Eating Retreat provides space enhance our spiritual connections with food and with what nourishes us.

Presenters:
Satya Ambrose, L.Ac, N.D. graduated from New England School of Acupuncture in 1977. She co-founded The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in 1982, and finished her ND degree in 1989. She has taught oncology, immunology, oriental medicine, women’s health, endocrinology and environmental toxicology, and nutrition, among other topics. She currently is working on her 24-acre organic farm in Damascus , OR , and is working with the Chitari Foundation to open an integrative healing center. Satya will present “Food for Thought,” inspiring information to help us build healthy eating habits for greater vitality and health.

Jeanette Chardon, M.S.W., a counselor who has worked over 14 years with clients challenged with life-threatening illnesses, currently works with clients, both individually and in groups focusing on achieving mind/body health through counseling and alternative healing arts and practices. Jeanette will be leading the group in guided meditations for deep healing and profound relaxation. She also leads us in morning yoga exercises to increase energy and clarity of mind.

Kathy Schaeffer, LMT, M.Ed., is a Licensed Massage Therapist with a Master’s in Education. Her training includes Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports Massage, Trigger Point Therapy, Reflexology, and Hot Stone Therapy. She strives to help people connect with their body, to listen to their inner wisdom, and to find healing and wellness from within.

The cost of the massage is included in your registration fee. ******************************************************************************************************************************
Retreat begins Friday evening, at 6:00 p.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. The cost for weekend is $280. Cost includes accommodations, 30-minute massage, and gourmet vegetarian meals (some fish may be served; special dietary needs will be accommodated). Discounts are available. Please call for available discounts. Please send $100.00, due April 4, 2008

Jeanette Chardon, 5827 SE Tikki Ct., Milwaukie , OR 97267

Additional information and directions will be sent upon receipt of your deposit. Please call Jeanette - 503-866-3192 with questions.

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 0 replies

Everyone OK???

2007-09-28T01:11:16Z

Hello there!! I noticed tonight that there aren't any new postings here. Is everyone OK?? Anything I can do? Does anyone need to talk? Here is the place to do it... so talk on...

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 2 replies

False Sense of Security?

2007-07-13T10:45:08Z

I was wondering if anyone else here has had a time when you were told the worst was over... you're a little leary, maybe... then slowly you start to feel comfortable as test after test shows no sign of the offending illness... the months pass and you find yourself living life again, feeling at ease in your own skin, smiling even, and then...

Bam! It's over a year later and you find out you need more... more meds, more operations, more procedures that send chills to your bones? How do you deal with it all over again?

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 1 reply

thanks

2007-07-13T10:36:19Z

for sharing!

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 1 reply

I wish this tribe was more ACTIVE !

2007-04-30T11:25:27Z

It's too bad there's so little posting/responding/membership...........it's a group i'd really like to put out more Q.?'s to and get discussion going here.
Maybe I'll reach out to indiv. members if I need to share/interact/ask.
Wanted to speak that.

I'm glad this group is HERE (it's how I first found tribe!!, by googling the title of this book), but, a little bummed that it doesn't seem to be that USED.
thx. for listening.

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 1 reply

healing art project on my tribe page

2007-04-30T11:24:12Z

I am creating a healing art project on my tribe page
in a part of my recovery
its an interactive art project
where I make an piece of art and then post a question
and the comments inspire the next piece of art and question

comments greatly inspire the projects direction
so please hop on over to my tribe page
and see if this art project will provide anything in your own healing

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 0 replies

painful emotions after physical detox

2006-08-19T04:03:08Z

I'm NEW here ! (I guess I'll do a ProPer intro. another time)
So, hi ALL>>

I've just done a body cleanse + some *sad*, *letting go* feelings are arising. I've cried and connected to where the feelings are From. the feelings that were "stuck" in my body.
I wanted to reach out & see what other ppl's experiences have been with this........

You know when you're IN a feeling, and it seems like that's aLL you'll ever feel / all you Have felt ?
Yup.
I'm there about 85% right now.
I welcome relating and hugs~
Grace, delia

ps--i will try to aLLOW these feelings to FLO thru Me. try not to fight them / supress them : )

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 2 replies

Good Day!

2006-01-27T00:49:17Z

. . . or is it? Maybe it's one of those days your praying with every breath and failing to cope with the conditions flooding within and around you. I feel for ya. :( >>> :)

Right now, today, in this moment I'm glad I'm still alive . . .

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 1 reply

Introductions

2006-01-15T20:12:58Z

I may have posted this incorrectly the first time. Sorry. I am a 52-year old disabled journalist who has been coping with chronic illness since 1980. Technically it has been since 1963 when they removed a kidney, but it wasn't until the second one went that I had troubles.

When my remaining kidney failed in 1980, I had just landed the job I had worked a decade to get and I wasn't about to lose it. So I managed to work and dialyze.

I miss my job terribly. It was great fun. But my goal since college was to become a reporter in the city where I lived and I did it. There is some consolation to having achieved your dream before time ran out.

So I do volunteer work and realize I'll never have the rush again that working at UPI gave.

I suspect, though, that many of you are coping with the same problems.
Bernie

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 1 reply

Buddhist help to help yourself...

2005-12-29T00:48:36Z

Here are some fundamental characteristics of human development that lead to resilience, vitality, inner stability, and peace of mind:

We move from reliance on external authority to an internal center of resonance & wisdom based on observation, experimentation, and experience.
We bring fascination, curiosity, and interest to all aspects of our lives & to relationships. We are comfortable with differences, and are able to reflect on our own feelings, thoughts, and emotional reactions.
We take personal responsibility for our internal experience - we realize we create our own feelings of anger, contempt, and judgments with our demands that situations & people be different than they are. We cease blaming or making up excuses & reasons for our problems.
We see situations & people as they truly are & make our decisions based on current reality, not our hopes that people will change.
We become increasingly able to attune & resonate with our internal world - including our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This ability to go deeply within ourselves decreases our need for either disassociation or external stimulation to relieve emptiness & boredom.
We realize that we are not our "minds," we are not all the teachings that have been put there. We exist beyond these teaching as essence.
We develop the will to do the things we know will help us feel stronger, healthier, more alive, and connected to others.
We develop the ability to self-soothe & calm ourselves when we are alone or with other people.
Our living becomes more congruent with our beliefs.
Our relationships become more authentic, trusting, open, and valued.
We are able to give & receive care, friendship, and support.
We accept the ever-changing nature of all life. The challenge of empowerment.
We affirm we have the power to take charge of our lives & stop being dependent on substances or other people for our self-esteem & security.
Alternative: We admit we were out of control with/powerless over _________ yet have the power to take charge of our lives & stop being dependent on substances or other people for our self-esteem & security.
We come to believe that we have the ability to develop our inner resources through a process of learning, exploration, daily practice, diligence, self reflection, and supportive relationships with others. (This is a new version of this step)
We make a decision to become our authentic selves & trust in the healing power of the truth.
We examine our beliefs, addictions, and dependent behavior in the context of living in a hierarchal, patriarchal culture.
We share with another person all the things inside of us for which we feel shame & guilt.
We affirm & enjoy our strengths, talents, and creativity.
We become willing to let go of guilt, shame, and any behavior that keeps us from accepting ourselves & others.
We make a list of people we have harmed & people who have harmed us, and take steps to clear out negative feelings by making amends & sharing our grievances in a respectful way.
We express love & gratitude to others, and increasingly appreciate the wonder of life & the blessings we do have.
We continue to trust our reality & daily affirm that we see what we see, we know what we know & we feel what we feel.
We promptly acknowledge mistakes & make amends when appropriate, but we do not say we are sorry for things we have not done & we do not cover up, analyze, or take responsibility for the shortcomings of others.
We seek out situations, jobs, and people who affirm our intelligence, perceptions, and self-worth & avoid situations or people who are hurtful, harmful, or demeaning to us.
We take steps to heal our physical bodies, organize our lives, reduce stress, and have fun.
We seek to find our inward calling, and develop the will & wisdom to follow it.
We accept that change, loss, death, and re-birth are part of the natural flow of life.
We grow in awareness that we are interrelated with all living things, and we contribute to restoring peace & balance on the planet.
This is active meditation, not medication with endless meetings for life that are depressing and disempowering. Without knowing this particular technique, I started to do something similar. Then, when I went to AA just for fun, I was so sad to see that people had to admit to being powerless to get to the first step. I never took that 1st step, I ran! I dosed myself with nutrition, love, silence, self sourcing. I quit sugar, caffeine, smoking all with ease. Not to mention my unmentionable ellicit illegal drug taking for like 16 years! And alcohol. I later found this, which is a more empowering 12 step for Buddhists.
BODHI'S BUDDHIST NON-THEISTIC 12 STEPS:

1. We admitted our addictive craving over alcohol, and recognised its consequences in our lives.
2. Came to believe that a power other than self could restore us to wholeness.
3. Made a decision to go for refuge to this other power as we understood it.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to ourselves and another human being the exact moral nature of our past.
6. Became entirely ready to work at transforming ourselves.
7. With the assistance of others and our own firm resolve, we transformed unskilful aspects of ourselves and cultivated positive ones.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed.
9. Made direct amends to such people where possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. In addition, made a conscientious effort to forgive all those who harmed us.
10. Continue to maintain awareness of our actions and motives, and when we acted unskilfuly promptly admitted it.
11. Engaged through the practise of meditation to improve our conscious contact with our true selves, and seeking that beyond self. Also used prayer as a means to cultivate postive attitudes and states of mind.
12. Having gained spiritual insight as a result of these steps, we practise these principles in all areas of our lives, and make this message available to others in need of recovery\

The 12 Steps of Liberation
>>>>>Said another way:

1. The truth of suffering. We experienced the truth of our addictions – our lives
were unmanageable suffering.

2. The truth of the origin of suffering. We admit that we craved for and grasped
onto addictions as our refuge.

3. The truth of the end of suffering. We came to see that complete cessation of
craving and clinging at addictions is necessary.

4. The truth of the path. We made a decision to follow the way of liberation and
to take refuge in our wakefulness, our truth, and our fellowship.

5. Right view. We made a searching and fearless review of our life. We are
willing to acknowledge and proclaim our truth to ourselves, another human
being and the community.

6. Right thought. We are mindful that we create the causes for suffering and
liberation. Our goodness is indestructible.

7. Right speech. We purify, confess and ask for forgiveness straightforwardly
and without judgment. We are willing to forgive others.

8. Right action. We make a list of all persons we harm and are willing and able
to actively make amends to them all, unless to do so would be harmful.

9. Right livelihood. We simplify our lives, realizing we are all interconnected.
We select a vocation that supports our recovery.

10. Right effort. We realize that continuing to follow this path, no matter what, is
joyful effort.

11. Right mindfulness. Through prayer, meditation and action we will follow the
path of kindness, being mindful moment by moment.

12. Right concentration. Open to the spirit of awakening as a result of these steps,
we will carry this message to all people suffering with addictions.

We move from reliance on external authority to an internal center of resonance & wisdom based on observation, experimentation, and experience.
We bring fascination, curiosity, and interest to all aspects of our lives & to relationships. We are comfortable with differences, and are able to reflect on our own feelings, thoughts, and emotional reactions.
We take personal responsibility for our internal experience - we realize we create our own feelings of anger, contempt, and judgments with our demands that situations & people be different than they are. We cease blaming or making up excuses & reasons for our problems.
We see situations & people as they truly are & make our decisions based on current reality, not our hopes that people will change.
We become increasingly able to attune & resonate with our internal world - including our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This ability to go deeply within ourselves decreases our need for either disassociation or external stimulation to relieve emptiness & boredom.
We realize that we are not our "minds," we are not all the teachings that have been put there. We exist beyond these teaching as essence.
We develop the will to do the things we know will help us feel stronger, healthier, more alive, and connected to others.
We develop the ability to self-soothe & calm ourselves when we are alone or with other people.
Our living becomes more congruent with our beliefs.
Our relationships become more authentic, trusting, open, and valued.
We are able to give & receive care, friendship, and support.
We accept the ever-changing nature of all life. The challenge of empowerment.

And I also like the Native medicine wheel way. That really puts it into perspective! I think that having these substance abuse problems actually enhanced my life.

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 0 replies

Holistic Hindu Approach..

2005-09-18T06:58:42Z

Hi everyone......

I'm new to this tribe. Hence, the introduction.

I was directed to this by a dear friend and wellwisher Mike DeVito. Everything about me can be gathered, both, from my profile, as

well as from my website.

With the humble knowledge that I have in esoteric sciences, my main aim of my visits to US for past few years (on a regular basis)

is to create a 'true awareness' among people about 'what lies ahead' as the FUTURE for my friends/clients...

Yes, after having spent a huge amount on tickets, stay & other expenses, the remuneration also has to be considered.

Unlike other visits, this time I intend to do things on individual basis. Starting with their Vedic Astrological Chart and moving on to

'solving' problems through Mantras, Tantra, Gem Therapy and personal teachings based on ancient Hindu tenets.

I'll be coming to U.S around Feb/March.& having base mainly in L.A.& Colorado .

Going to other places is still tentative....All depends on the 'economic' factors listed above...Pl.do let me know if that is possible

and how.
>
> Sincerely;
>
> Chandan

IM's: Yahoo & AOL: ceegee29
MSN: tantrik29
eMail address: iamtantrik@yahoo.com
Website: www.newspiritservices.com/gems.html

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 0 replies

Afterlife

2005-06-01T18:46:56Z

Is there one? Do you think so? Why?

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 0 replies

Courage

2004-07-31T01:29:32Z

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer."

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 2 replies

Hidden Blessings

2004-07-28T14:13:47Z

What hidden blessings have you found from your illness?

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 2 replies

Hi there

2004-07-27T00:54:38Z

This seems to be a small group, so I thought I'd add my name to it. The description of the group resonated with something I've always felt. But I wasn't sure whether others with major illness did.

I feel I have grown as a person... have become more compassionate and less materialistic. My self-image has grown because I have survived a challenge that many others would not have. I have also become strong.

If I were healthy I don't think this kind of growth would have occurred. But I have to admit that given the choice I would have picked a healthy body with the prospect of less growth.

Just for background, I worked and dialyzed for many years and managed to hang on precariously to a normal lifestyle. I dated, I married and I bought a house.

At any rate I just wanted to introduce myself.

Bernie Culen

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 2 replies

Greetings fine people!

2004-02-09T22:21:42Z

Good day to you all. My name is Beth and my dear, beloved father was diagnosed with kidney failure this past August. My father and I have been amazingly close through my adult life, and back in August when I finally made him go to the emergency since he had been so sick for weeks, we had no idea that we were beginning on a journey that would have no end. The doctors initially told me he was not going to make it and there was nothing they could do. But they did not count on how stubborn we were both going to be about refusing that kind of news. Facing a parent's mortality changes a person forever - in ways I am just truly beginning to understand. But even more so as he is also my friend and confidant. We, yes we, spent the better part of August, September, October, and November in hospitals fighting like hell for survival. Dad pulled through and is now on dialysis, which is a horrible, draining animal. But it is also what is keeping him alive. Each day I am finding a more profound duality to the whole thing. Dialysis makes him feel so terrible, and it is painful, and it is saving him. But he is doing better and better all the time and we are trying to find hope for a brighter future. So anyway, I would love to share in your tribe with you if you will have me. I was so happy to find you here. I have close friends to talk to, but if you haven't been there, then you just don't get it. And I have actually found that people are weird about talking about something like a chronic illness when they don't have an understanding of it, like they didn't know what to say when I would call or send an e-mail. No one understood I just wanted them to be the same people they always were and talk about the same stuff. I guess it was scarey for them. So in a nutshell, that is my story of why I seeked you out and how I came to be here on this tribe with you. Thank you for letting me visit.
Beth

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 2 replies

A Note from Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Inspiration

2004-02-07T06:59:20Z

Gabriel Garcia Marquez has retired from public life due to health reasons: cancer of the lymph nodes. It seems that it is getting worse.
He has sent this farewell letter to his friends, which has been translated and posted on the Internet. Please read and forward to any who might enjoy it. This is possibly, sadly, one of the last gifts to humanity from a true master:

If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag doll and gifted me with a piece of life, possibly I wouldn’t say all that I think, but
rather I would think of all that I say. I would value things, not for their worth but for what they mean. I would sleep little, dream more,
understanding that for each minute we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would walk when others hold back, I would wake when others sleep. I would listen when others talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate
ice cream! If God were to give me a piece of life, I would dress simply, throw myself face first into the sun, baring not only my body but also my soul. My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hate on ice, and wait for the sun to show. Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh dream a Benedetti poem, and a Serrat song would be the serenade I’d offer to the moon.

With my tears I would water roses, to feel the pain of their thorns, and the red kiss of their petals...

My god, if I had a piece of life... I wouldn’t let a single day pass without telling the people I love that I love them. I would convince each woman and each man that they are my favorites, and I would live in love with love. I would show men how very wrong they are to think that they cease to be in love when they grow old, not knowing that they grow old when they cease to be in love! To a child I shall give wings, but I
shall let him learn to fly on his own. I would teach the old that death does not come with old age, but with forgetting. So much have I learned
from you, oh men [sic]...

I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain, without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled. I have
learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his tiny fist his father’s finger, he has him trapped forever.

I have learned that a man has the right to look down on another only when he has to help the other get to his feet. From you I have learned
so many things, but in truth they won’t be of much use, for when I keep them within this suitcase, unhappily shall I be dying.

GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez began his career as a Journalist for a series of iberal South American newspapers in the late 1940’s. Although he toyed with fiction as a young man, his first true efforts were incited by the negative reviews of contemporary Latin-American writers. The result was the short story The Third Resignation. The reviews of the story were positive and the impact strong; the press
heralded The Boom, a second generation of Latin-American writers.
Garcia Marquez followed with a compilation of short stories (Big Mama’s Funeral) and three novellas (Leaf Storm, No One Writes to the Colonel, and In Evil Hour). These dark, eerie, and sad works were influenced heavily by Franz Kafka yet they reveal the voice of an ntelligent
young writer preparing himself for larger things.

Larger things came to Garcia Marquez in 1967. While suffering from writer’s block several years earlier, the author suddenly had a vision
of his next novel—as he has said, the first chapter was as clear as if it had already been written. The idea was to tell the story of several generations of a Colombian family as his grandmother might have told it: supernatural occurrences and unbelievable events described with unblinking sincerity.

After eighteen months of seclusion, Garcia Marquez produced his masterpiece, "One Hundred Years of Solitude," which has been called one
of the greatest novels in history. Gabriel
Garcia Marquez was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982.

posted in Alchemy of Illness - 6 replies