One of our members brought a guest today who spoke to us about his journey through life and becoming a chiropractor and then a practitioner of applied kinesiology. Dr. Drew McMillen told us how he found his way to his present line of work. He found himself in a meeting of the class in chiropractic school where students were all describing epiphany moments when they decided to become a chiropractor. They had a personal history of musculoskeletal injury or disease and were helped by a chiropractor they saw and formed a dream of becoming one themselves. Dr. McMillen felt left out and wondered if this were a profession for him because he hadn't had such an epiphany at all. He had wondered through life thinking that if he had no so-called "calling" then he would just be a person with no devotion to his work, but he would do his work to the best of his ability. He was working in a grocery store when one day when he was still fighting within himself about his life direction, and fully 11 chiropractors came through the line. He decided that was an omen, and went to school for the chiropractic. School was hard, but he finished and started to practice. But he found that patients are not modeled to what he had learned in school. He felt that trying to mold people's problems into his learning was somehow phony and he was not sure he could continue this work. By chance at this time his mother who was taking the Course in Miracles, met another member of the class whose grandson was just finishing his internship in chiropracty. They met through these women, and from this young intern, Dr. McMillen absorbed his enthusiasm and became impressed when the young intern used methods unknown to Dr. McMillen from his training to diagnose a strained knee that the intern didn't even know Dr. McMillen had suffered. The young intern was practicing applied kinesiology. Therefore, Dr. McMillen found a 150 hour course in applied kinesiology and began to add all this knowledge to his practice. Now his practice is only about 2-3% chiropractic.
Dr. McMillen feels that he can help people beyond just making them symptom free. He feels he can help his clients to get to their highest level of an expression of normal. He now feels that the diagnostic method he uses is no longer fraudalent and he has great confidence in what he does. He found that people come to his office with all sorts of problems: stress, the fight or flight reaction, psychosomatic problems, relationship problems, in addition to physical ailments. Formerly he had to put these issues in the form of an abnormal bone or musculoskeletal source, but now he felt that the body was able through his diagnostic methods to tell him what was wrong and lead him to the correct treatment path. He has used courses in biochemistry, herbology, toxacology, and various other modalities to broaden his knowledge to help people. He practices in Boulder Colorado, but has opened an office in Elm Grove. On the evening of Feb 24, this evening he is holding a lecture and demonstration of some of his techniques.
Dr. Drew McMillen D.C.
925 Elm Grove Rd.
Elm Grove, WI 53122
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Schedule for near Future, SpiritMindBody Group
February 24, 2011: Top Secret: Either Sharleen will present on Love and Spirituality, or else we will have a holistic doctor, guest of Dick Yarr to present on holistic practices.
March 2, 2011: Bake Off
March 10, 2011: Phillip Chard discussion.
March 17, 2011: Tim will present Happiness and Job Flow
March 24, 2011: Extraordinary Knowing
March 31, 2011: Gunther Pohlmann Society
March 2, 2011: Bake Off
March 10, 2011: Phillip Chard discussion.
March 17, 2011: Tim will present Happiness and Job Flow
March 24, 2011: Extraordinary Knowing
March 31, 2011: Gunther Pohlmann Society
February 17, 1011: Morality by Nic P.
Nic P offered us a definition of morality that is quite interesting: "Morality is a process of individual discovery, not a position or principal, not a set of rules. Human beings as we have evolved need to live in communal societies and yet are bound by self interest which leads us into conflict. This is unlike ants, for eg, which are strongly social and not conflicted.
Do moral rules offer us impowerment or do they diminish us in some way?
Phillippa Foot, granddaughter of Grover Cleveland, wrote a book called Natural Goodness, when she was 80 years old. She is interested in moral philosophy. Her book is very dense but it still contains lots of beauty. She says there is a normative condition in nature which is a moral view. She says for example that in nature there is an oak tree which if its roots function to bring nutrients out of the soil, and the trunk functions to hold the tree up, and if the leafy top functions to absorb sunlight, then the tree is not defective and is inBut nature a good tree, ie moral. But if the roots do not send nutrietns to the rest of the tree then it is defective. If a human being has not achieved a sense of morality, then he is defective. This knowledge becomes liberating.
The process of developing morality can produce anger. But if you can regard this as a defect, then one may be able to deal with the anger. Appreciation may help you deal with these issues. This allows you to see both sides of an issue and helps one confront the issue.
There is a biological basis to morality. We human beings with our strong tendency to generousity but also strong self interest develop conflict between these two sides of our personality. Appreciation may be able to help us see both sides of these conflicts. We also can realize that we don't need to solve this conflict quickly. But in the end we can't survive without going through the personal process of discovery of morality. If there are no guidelines (such as of religion) this process will take longer but we will still get there.
Members of the group came up with these questions: If morality is an individual process, how are we to think of someone like Hitler? How can a group of people who all seem moral strongly hold such different positions?Appreciation may help discern between these different opinions. Thinking about Foot's book helped Nic add appreciation to his definition of morality.
Morality preceeds biology and maybe part of consciousness.
As regards Hitler, members of the group reminded us that some people say Hitler put into action what some people dream of doing. We all may be only one step away from being a Hitler. Appreciation dims certitude. Appreciation drives out fear. Just remember to go to appreciation.
Do moral rules offer us impowerment or do they diminish us in some way?
Phillippa Foot, granddaughter of Grover Cleveland, wrote a book called Natural Goodness, when she was 80 years old. She is interested in moral philosophy. Her book is very dense but it still contains lots of beauty. She says there is a normative condition in nature which is a moral view. She says for example that in nature there is an oak tree which if its roots function to bring nutrients out of the soil, and the trunk functions to hold the tree up, and if the leafy top functions to absorb sunlight, then the tree is not defective and is inBut nature a good tree, ie moral. But if the roots do not send nutrietns to the rest of the tree then it is defective. If a human being has not achieved a sense of morality, then he is defective. This knowledge becomes liberating.
The process of developing morality can produce anger. But if you can regard this as a defect, then one may be able to deal with the anger. Appreciation may help you deal with these issues. This allows you to see both sides of an issue and helps one confront the issue.
There is a biological basis to morality. We human beings with our strong tendency to generousity but also strong self interest develop conflict between these two sides of our personality. Appreciation may be able to help us see both sides of these conflicts. We also can realize that we don't need to solve this conflict quickly. But in the end we can't survive without going through the personal process of discovery of morality. If there are no guidelines (such as of religion) this process will take longer but we will still get there.
Members of the group came up with these questions: If morality is an individual process, how are we to think of someone like Hitler? How can a group of people who all seem moral strongly hold such different positions?Appreciation may help discern between these different opinions. Thinking about Foot's book helped Nic add appreciation to his definition of morality.
Morality preceeds biology and maybe part of consciousness.
As regards Hitler, members of the group reminded us that some people say Hitler put into action what some people dream of doing. We all may be only one step away from being a Hitler. Appreciation dims certitude. Appreciation drives out fear. Just remember to go to appreciation.
.February 10, 2011: Rob Schleck, Principal of Burdick School
We were very grateful to have Dr. Rob Schleck Principal of Burdick School in Milwaukee as a guest this morning. First off, Mr. Schleck told us his background and how he came to be Principal of Burdick School.
He worked at Logan Center for the Mentally Disabled, and then later at Northern Mental Disability Center. He reports that these jobs were very difficult, but he also says that he learned everyone has something to contribute. Then he worked in construction during the day and took UWM grad school at night. After he was done with school, he got a job teaching emotionally disturbed kids at MPS. Then he moved to autistic children which prepared him for handling staff at Madison HS where he did a month stint as the principal. Then he was asked to be the assistant principal for the rest of the year. After that year, he was asked to start a school for the mentally disturbed for 90 kids. There was a teacher and a para in each room and a probation officer on site. They handled physical confrontations between students every day for 4 years. After this job he moved to Burdick school in 1989. There were all sorts of problems at the school at that time. The student body was 89% African American and students were not there to learn. There was a lot of tension. Mr Schleck said "We have to take back this school." Over the next summer the teachers he had hired during the previous year met once a week with assignments to get ready for August and the new school year. The saying was "Either jump on the steamroller or become part of the road." Basicly their program gave power back to the teachers. They could use suspension of a child if necessary.
Mr.Schleck learned how to look at staff and determine their positives. Everyone has positives. He needed to earn their trust and back up his staff. He says he began practicing creative insubordination where the district administration was concerned. He was able to turn the school around so that parents began moving to the area so their children could go to Burdick School.
Each day starts at the school with a complete general assembly of all the kids and teachers. This gets the day off to a good start and emphasizes the community of the school.
Mr. Schleck and his staff developed a behavioral system which consisted of 6 groups of 3 steps each. These are called demerits and detensions. The kids serve them at the noon hour and couseling is involved with the kids at this time. If a student gets three of these, then the student goes to the bar (the behavior adjustment room). All staff in manning the bar. Another 3 demerits and the student appears before staff, another 3 and there is a suspension, etc, each group of 3 results in more severe activities. But fewer and fewer students have moved beyond the first set of 3 remedies. Teachers have become in charge of their classroom. They have the power to suspend students. It is extremely important not to embarass the students. Discipline must be done outside the classroom so student is removed from the room and then a discussion about the behavior is undertaken. This saves face for the student.
We were very happy to hear how Robert Schleck has turned around Burdick School and about his methods which seem to have worked dramtically.
He worked at Logan Center for the Mentally Disabled, and then later at Northern Mental Disability Center. He reports that these jobs were very difficult, but he also says that he learned everyone has something to contribute. Then he worked in construction during the day and took UWM grad school at night. After he was done with school, he got a job teaching emotionally disturbed kids at MPS. Then he moved to autistic children which prepared him for handling staff at Madison HS where he did a month stint as the principal. Then he was asked to be the assistant principal for the rest of the year. After that year, he was asked to start a school for the mentally disturbed for 90 kids. There was a teacher and a para in each room and a probation officer on site. They handled physical confrontations between students every day for 4 years. After this job he moved to Burdick school in 1989. There were all sorts of problems at the school at that time. The student body was 89% African American and students were not there to learn. There was a lot of tension. Mr Schleck said "We have to take back this school." Over the next summer the teachers he had hired during the previous year met once a week with assignments to get ready for August and the new school year. The saying was "Either jump on the steamroller or become part of the road." Basicly their program gave power back to the teachers. They could use suspension of a child if necessary.
Mr.Schleck learned how to look at staff and determine their positives. Everyone has positives. He needed to earn their trust and back up his staff. He says he began practicing creative insubordination where the district administration was concerned. He was able to turn the school around so that parents began moving to the area so their children could go to Burdick School.
Each day starts at the school with a complete general assembly of all the kids and teachers. This gets the day off to a good start and emphasizes the community of the school.
Mr. Schleck and his staff developed a behavioral system which consisted of 6 groups of 3 steps each. These are called demerits and detensions. The kids serve them at the noon hour and couseling is involved with the kids at this time. If a student gets three of these, then the student goes to the bar (the behavior adjustment room). All staff in manning the bar. Another 3 demerits and the student appears before staff, another 3 and there is a suspension, etc, each group of 3 results in more severe activities. But fewer and fewer students have moved beyond the first set of 3 remedies. Teachers have become in charge of their classroom. They have the power to suspend students. It is extremely important not to embarass the students. Discipline must be done outside the classroom so student is removed from the room and then a discussion about the behavior is undertaken. This saves face for the student.
We were very happy to hear how Robert Schleck has turned around Burdick School and about his methods which seem to have worked dramtically.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
January 20: Tom R. on Focusing
Focusing. Tom R our member has not been able to attend our meetings for a while. Therefore it was quite nice to have him present this week's piece on focusing. He had some nice exercises that had us focus on various parts of our body, and then various part of our mind. We practiced listening and then reported to each other what we heard. It was important to practice listening from the outside and from the inside of the body. We went around the room and described what we heard. One of the most interesting exercises was to listen from the inside of our right thumb. Try it sometime!. I have often thought that most people in our workaday world are unable to focus our mind well at all. We have become so adept at multitasking that we have forgotten how to do one thing and focus on it. These practices are very helpful in practicing mindfulness.
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