Saturday, January 24, 2015

January 22, 2015: Color Therapy by Mary R.

          Mary R., a regular attendee, at our meetings is a nurse who now practices acupuncture. She has been training herself in auricular acupuncture or auricular therapy, and has been trying to earn a certification in this area of treatment. But recently she became interested in color therapy. Mary was able to do some research from several books in order to present to us a summary of color therapy. These books were: 1) Discover Color Therapy: A First Step Handbook to Better Health by Helen Graham; 2) Colour Therapy: the Use of Colour for Health and Healing by Pauline Wills; and The Secret language of Color by Joann Eckstut and Arielle Eckstut.

     Mary related to us some of the fascinating things she learned about color, starting with how we see color with the eye and its rods and cones. She was surprised to learn that under water the number of colors visible gradually declines. For example at 30 feet below sea level, one can see yellow and blue, but as one goes deeper, only blue can be seen. Surprisingly a peacock shrimp has the most color receptors in its eyes. And yet human beings can see 10 million shades of color. Nocturnal animals have fewer photo receptors. Bats see only shades of grey, and no color. Dogs can't see green and red, but only in the yellow and blue range. To them grass is probably blue. Butterflies have more photo receptors than humans. Birds see all the colors but less so for blue. Snakes can see infra red.

     Color used as therapy is often called chromotherapy. It is thought that healing with color depends on the vibrational energy of the light waves in the various colors. In this practice, the New Agers utilize the chakras from ancient Hindu tradition but the New Age has applied colors to these chakras and this combination of color and traditional chakra practice are used together. 

     In color therapy, an analysis is done sometimes with a so called dousing utensil to determine what color a patient or client might need to improve their situation. Then the color that is needed is applied to the skin, sometimes over the wrist. This color's complementary color is also used. Sometimes colored silk is used and applied to the skin. Some therapist use a round lantern slide through which a light is passed. Those who write about color therapy state that the client's pulse responds to the colors that are correct for a person's therapy. There are also general rules for using color as therapy by these alternative practitioners. Red is the most commonly used. Orange seems to treat depression, gallbladder stones and muscle cramps. Green is used for detoxification, infection. Turquoise boosts the immune system. A typical prescription advises which colors to use and instructs the client to hold the color to the wrist under a light bulb, 2 times a day for perhaps 15 minutes for a period of 3 months.

     It should be noted that the use of color therapy or chromotherapy as it is sometimes called is a pseudoscience. There is no evidence of the type that medicine usually uses, for example double blind studies that show that any of these uses of color do anything to heal or treat disease. However, interior decorators have long thought that certain colors in our environment whether paint on the wall or rug on the floor or bursts of bright color within a more neutral room can have varying degrees of affect on emotions, state of relaxation or anxiety, and mood.

     The author questioned what the expectations of clients of color therapy were. I postulated that perhaps some of these clients are frustrated and have tried multiple different therapies without satisfaction. They may expect that some of the alternative types of treatment may have an effect. We also know that the so called placebo affect is very real and can be very strong. It is estimated that 30 to 40% of people can be subject to a relatively strong placebo affect.  John commented that studies have shown that people have a remarkable ability to self heal. A study suggested that healing of a medical problem starts even before the patient sees the doctor, once the patient has made the decision to seek care, suggesting that the patient starts to get better when they have given themselves permission to let self healing take place. As an MD, my view is that as long as alternative therapies do not hinder or delay standard medical treatment, there is no preclusion to using them. In other words if they help without side affects, let's use them. Of course the problem with any of these alternative treatment modalities which are unproven is the presence of charlatans who can do great harm of a financial kind as well as emotional damage. There is a need for careful scientific blinded studies to learn more about colors to justify the use of an alternative treatment like color therapy.

     Some members of the audience suggested that the use and success of these alternative therapies depends on perception. Indeed all our brains confabulate to make up for lacks in our sensory organs and their ability to perceive the world. Vision for example has been studied in detail and the presence of this confabulation in our brain to make up for imperfect and incomplete visualizations of the visual field has been proven.

     With further questioning, Mary did briefly talk about auricular therapy which she is trying to learn at this time. Briefly this is the application of needles or in some cases glass or metal rods to areas of the ear which correspond to ailing areas of the entire human body. Again I am not sure of the evidence for this type of treatment either, though traditional Chinese acupuncture seems to have some benefit for many people, though that benefit is poorly understood.

     Mary led us in an exercise during which we first practiced some guided relaxation techniques. Then we were asked to imagine a butterfly and to concentrate on its colors, then to imagine it flying to a place and to recall the color or colors of that place. Mary then said that the books she studied gave interpretations of the colors seen in this imagination exercise. Mary admitted that in the first case she did not like the predictions as applied to herself. She did not think that they applied well to her. In a second similar exercise she felt more accepting of the resultant interpretations.

     In my own research, I did find this Internet site. If you are interested in a much more thorough consideration of chromotherapy, access this site from the Journal of Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1297510/


     In addition, a lot of research has been done in the last 2 decades about the affect of color on circadian rhythm and other physiological processes. I found this interesting article about research on blue light. As you can tell by perusing this site, a lot of complex research has been done in this area. Therefore it is not as far fetched to believe that other colors as well have affects on human behavior though perhaps not as intense an affect as blue.

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/

Thursday, January 15, 2015

January 15, 2015: Meredith: Photo Dance


https://www4.uwm.edu/sarup/news/washingtonpark2014.cfm  This is a link to the announcement of the unique Dec 13 UWM Dance Performances held in the Washington Park Area. It is a good introduction to our presentation today by Meridith Watts.

   Meridith Watts, who is a member of our group, has been involved in an ongoing educational project involving three departments at UWM:  architecture, dance, and public art. The project involved several steps. Part I involved preliminary meetings which included walkabouts in the Washington Park area of Milwaukee, near Lisbon and 33rd Street. Members of these three departments walked around this neighborhood to find spaces where public art could be displayed, where public dance performances could be staged in the outdoors and in certain available indoor spaces, and where architecture contributed to the space involved. During these walkabouts, ideas for these spaces were charted and later the GPS readings for the final choices were mapped and could be found on a phone app. Part II involved some trial performances and setting up the script and the plans for these performances. This occurred in November 2014. The planned dance performances were done in December 2015. The plan still includes a Part IV where some of these dance performances will be done in more typical urban performance sites including UWM.
     During the development of these performances, it was known that often non traditional spaces would be "refunctioned" for the purpose. Great effort was made to understand the space and to use a sensitivity, and in some case improvisational flexibility in the scripting of the art and movements depending on the audience environment. There would be some audience performer separation which would be porous borders but separation of function. This would not be a flash mob type of performance but it would be more planned and in a different kind of space, not a crowded public space. It also would not be a "block party" event where the audience becomes totally participatory with unplanned sequences, more in the line of a celebration.
     In the development of these presentations, scripts and sequences were tried out, trying to find what would fit in the space chosen. Generally, this would require small movements, not the large expansive moves. The Neighborhood Interventions part of the project were performed at Amaranth Cafe, near Lisbon and Washington Park, the Koenig House garden on 33rd St, a vacant lot, and the Rosalind Cox house on 33rd and Galena as well as an empty house due to be rejuvenated. The audience achieved at this event consisted of a mixed group of students and some people who were picked up along the way.  Meredith told of one audience member who said: "You know, your dancers are good,, but they are not into the 4th dimension enough!". Wow. Reportedly the dancers are still thinking about that comment.
     The actual performances after the several months of preparation were at the Amaranth Cafe, Rosalind Cox house, and other outdoor spaces, as well as the Express Yourself Milwaukee Community Art Center which is located close to the Amaranth Cafe. These areas form kind of a social and service vortex for the area. Brochures were prepared that listed the sites and expected times of performance so that an audience could catch up with the tour wherever they wished. It is estimated that a hundred to a couple hundred people were able to view at least portions of the performances. Just driving through this neighborhood one does not see or expect anything like this. But every space belongs to someone and has character and many of these spaces attracted the students to take advantage of their unique characteristics. Two of the student dancers were residents of the Washington Park area and could provide much information to enable the remainder of the troop to understand the neighborhood better. Forty students participated along with at least 3 photographers. Several credits were given to the organizers of this event. There also is some public art space at 33rd St and Lisbon across from the Amaranth Cafe.
     It should be noted that the performances did not represent the stories of any people. There was not a specific narrative. The performances were movement oriented, movements in the space. They were usually designed to be 15 minutes long. For a narrative, one usually needs a longer time and more space. Also more writing and planning would be required.   Aritjii Sen, one of the organizers believes the architecture matters; the space matters. Interestingly during the neighborhood walkabout preparations, architecture students walked geometrically around blocks looking for spaces, while the dancers followed the flower gardens.
     Spiritually, several things happened during this project. Some of the students, dancers, and even with architect students, some had foregone feelings about the Washington Park neighborhood, perhaps sometimes based on the police blotter. Some felt the same after the performances but many were transformed. Then the whole project became spiritual. The dancers did receive various dance instructions, such as "raise your chest"; "open your back"; lift", "open your heart".  Whereas typical dance training for Martha Graham modern dance often instructed the dancers to move with their pelvis to ground themselves, these instructions seemed to involve more upward motion, more lifting, and opening.
     The project will continue with performances to be done in more traditional urban show spaces. Meredith showed us many photos of the spaces, the dancers, a video of the dancing in the various spaces as well as a photo of some of the public art which is still on display in the area.

     There is some background on the selection of this area for these three UWM departments to use as a space for performance and art. The UWM Department of Architecture had a project to investigate the Washington Park area and write about what moved them about the spaces seen here. Read about the history of the area and multiple pieces written by the UWM students as part of the educational project by the students of architecture.  Google [Washington Park Stories] or use this link: http://arch302.weebly.com/urban-park-spaces.html 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Upcoming Schedule

January 15:  Meredith:  Photo Dance
January 22:  Mary Reynolds:  Color
January 29: Dr. Harry Prosen, retired Chairman, Dept of Psychiatry, MCW

February 5:  Bake Off
February 12: John
February 19: Sky: Finding God through Mystery, Nature, and Poetry


January 8, 2015: Bake Off -- The Meaning of Life

     The author of this blog has made a New Year's Resolution. I resolve to be more faithful about posting about our seeking meetings of the Spirit Mind Body Group that gathers weekly at Milwaukee Mindfulness Center.

     We all still miss our former leader, Todd Davison, who passed away last June. He always called himself , the SAP, which stood for Self Appointed President. His guidance, and leadership will forever be missed.

     I am honored by our group to have been named what I call ConsenSAP or a Consensus Appointed President. I regard myself more as a timekeeper for our weekly meetings. But I will try to guide as well as I am able. AND I truly intend to keep this blog up to date for our members who keep track of us from afar. Sharleen will continue in her capacity of keeping our schedule and gently recruiting presenters at those meetings which require a presenter.

     On January 8th, after a holiday hiatus since both Christmas and New Years Day fell on our meeting day, Thursday, we gathered for our monthly Bake Off, in this case a week late due to the holiday. Let me once again explain here what a Bake Off is. This event falls on the first Thursday of every month. Attendees are asked to bring small tidbits that have attracted their spiritual attention or that have moved them. Sometimes it is a poem, sometimes a short spiritual practice, sometimes just a newspaper column such as the Phillip Chard one for that day in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Whoever brought an item takes his turn to present it. Then the group discusses it and anyone who wishes offers comments, comparisons, or other recollections or quotes that pertain to this presentation. The event is called a Bake Off, because the group adds its own ingredients to the initial "recipe" and we mix it and blend it and then "Bake It." The group never fails to gain some insight from this process.

    This author opened this Bake Off by presenting a short review of a very small book that I took out of the library. It is a fairly quick read and served to open up quite a nice "baking session" regarding its title. 


Terry Eagleton is the pen name of John Edward Taylor, Professor of English at Manchester University in England. Certainly it would seem to be rather courageous to undertake a book by this name. And the book is very small -- with a physical size of 3 X 5 inches and in that small format is 187 pages long.The book is really more like an essay than anything longer.  Being an academic, Eagleton spends more than half of that length considering what the question itself means, ie what even the words or labels in the title mean. What does "meaning" mean? What does "life" mean. During these considerations the author whirls through philosophical well-knowns like Aristotle, Plato,  Nietsche and Schoepenhauer. At one point he questions whether actually the "meaning of Life" is the actual living process of that life. In other words, life is what you make of it. At another point he lists a long group of "candidates" for the meaning of life: happiness, power, love, honor, truth, pleasure, freedom, reason, autonomy, the state, the nation, God, self-sacrifice, contemplation, living according to Nature, the greatest happiness to the greatest number, self abnegation, death, desire,worldly success, the esteem of one's fellows, reaping as many intense experiences as possible, having a good laugh, and so on. "For many people, in practice if not always in theory, life is made meaningful by their relationship by those closest to them, such as partners and children."

     Finally he distills the meaning of life into two of these items: first is happiness. Of course he has to consider the meaning of happiness for a while first. Here he likes Aristotle's definition of happiness which really is more like contentedness or a sense of well-being.  Then he comes to what apparently he regards as the most important meaning of life and that is love. He is not talking about romantic love, but rather love for all of our fellow beings on this world, more like the Buddhist idea of compassion or loving kindness. He feels this is the true meaning of life.

     Here is a link to a review of this book which goes into more detail than I did above for anyone who is interested in further reading or in reading the entire little book:      http://www.salon.com/2007/06/14/eagleton

     As expected in a Bake Off, the topic stimulated some discussion. Many felt that most of the group (not all) are of an age when we feel our time has become somewhat limited so we don't want to waste time by engaging in meaningless activities. But that is a judgement. Though some members of the group felt that creating such a strong purpose in life like the monastic of hermetic life is difficult to understand, others felt that in some cases intense dharma relationships grow out of such a life.

     Gertrude Stein was on her death bed, when she was remembered as saying in answer to the question: What's the answer?
     "There is no answer; that's the answer."  In  other words, our mind cannot understand the meaning. Many of us try to learn about a different way of knowing. Still we have the chattering mind. Someone thought that too much thinking actually dulls the mind.

     Gary feels that we all seek answers in the context of our own narrative. There is no answer. the answer is only that we are all curious. What we all have is an emanation of consciousness, but we must appreciate the wonder of our life. We lose sight of the complexity of life, such as quantum theories etc, and if we keep seeking, we hopefully can develop a cosmology that is satisfying at least to some degree.

     Marcy spoke about her relationship with animals especially in her work as a veterinarian, which she misses now that she is retired.  She recalls how she could look at an animal and get a feeling about the animal and its condition. A deep part of her work did not need intellectual meeting. She could bond with the animal, with no language, but with pure joy and she could just be there with the animal.

     Marcy read what is called a solar plexus chakra affirmation:

 I AM WORTH MY WEIGHT IN GOLD

I am worthy of love, kindness, and respect regardless of what I have done.
I am worthy because I exist.
I am worthy of the life I say I want.
I am worthy of the best.
I am confident in my ability to make my life work.
I am confident in the goodness of life itself to see me through.
I accept the power of my being to produce health, love, and joy in my life.
I know I am a powerful and wholesome force for good.
I choose the power of life.
I choose goodness, light, and love.
I choose health, healing, and happiness.
I choose the best for myself.

 This is one I found online before I received the one Marci presented in my email: it is also called a solar plexus chakra affirmation:

   
     I love and accept myself.
     I stand up for myself.
     I am strong and courageous.
     I am worthy of love, kindness, and respect.
     I choose the best for myself.
     I express myself in a powerful way.
     I am proud of my achievements.
     I honor my self.
     I choose healthy relationships.
     I am authentic.
     I direct my own life.
     I appreciate my strengths.
     I feel my own power.
     I am free to choose in any situation.
     I seek opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.
     I am at peace with myself.
    
     Some people discussed Holosync, or Hemisync, which is a type of binaural sound practice developed by Bob Monroe, which is supposed to deepen meditation and spiritual practice. Several members of the group have tried it and feel that it is very calming but that other meditative practices produced a deeper effect. You can find some information about it -- google Holosync or Robert Monroe. One of the sites lets you try it with a set of ear buds. Some in the group felt that its effects are not consistent.