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WE NEED MORE HUGS AND KISSES

8/13/2018

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WHAT WE NEED IS MORE HUGS AND KISSES

There are five senses: sound, sight, taste, smell and touch. Of all these wonderful senses, touch is arguably the most important one for nurturing. We feel through our skin and that feeling is transported through our whole being. The skin is the physical and emotional boundary that both separates and contains us physically and metaphorically from the rest of the world. We need to feel the touch of others to make and keep us happy and healthy. No one should be made to feel divorced from those around them.

Touch deprivation - sometimes called skin hunger - can unquestionably lead to loneliness and isolation. Humans are group animals and we do not fair well if we feel separated from other people. It is easier to feel motivated if we feel wanted by those around us. If we do not receive sufficient loving touch from others, we may start to fall apart both emotionally and physically. Touch deprivation may also cause unhealthy and unwarranted levels of depression and lack of self worth.

Touch in the form of hugs and kisses is being eroded as a social norm and discouraged by contemporary morals. People are increasingly hesitant to touch each other, even in a way that was once thought to be merely showing benign warmth and friendship. There is perceived fear of the legal repercussions that may follow if their kindness is mistaken for assault or sexual molestation. Touch deprivation has become a common feature both socially and between people that we work with. We are becoming increasingly discouraged from touching each other in ways that were not so long ago considered to be the norm. 

Professionals such as doctors, teachers and social workers have become frightened about touching those in their care . Even simply hugging crying children is often avoided. We no longer feel easy giving people the simple care and attention that they desperately want and need. 

By curtailing our freedom of touching, we are causing mental health issues. It seems that in our society, touch deprivation has become a real social problem. Paradoxically, the less touch that there is between people,  the more society seems to see this as normal and encourages this state of affairs to perpetuate and increase.

Touch deprivation can induce a state of pathogenic intractable loneliness. Chronic loneliness in children can see them dropping out of school and other joint activities with their class mates. As we get older, it can lead to conditions such as depression, drug and alcohol abuse and anxiety, increasing the risk of suicide. Other associated problems such as eating disorders and chronic metabolic syndrome can result in obesity. "Skin hunger" may be a contributing factor in Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. 


Also sleep patterns can become severely disrupted, so we do not reap the benefits of good revitalising rest and the cleansing of our extra cellular matrix becomes less efficient. It can disrupt our whole system, holistically the whole body can feel neglected and unwanted. No wonder that people find comfort from their furry pets!

Physical contact between individuals is an important factor in creating a happier society. As the poet WH Auden once pertinently said: “We must love each other or die”.  Given this stark but simple choice, I think that I know what most of us will choose.
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WRITING POETRY CAN HELP EMOTIONALLY.

8/9/2018

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Writing poetry is not only a fantastic way to let your hair down and embrace  freedom of spirit, it can also benefit one’s health and well being. Our thoughts are objects that can be controlled through meditation. If we use the act of writing poetry as a form of meditation, it can induce a relaxed and contented mind.

The use of poetry as a therapeutic tool was used by ancient shamans and healers. Chanting poems was a method employed to help the welfare of the tribe or an individual. 

In 1928, poet and pharmacist Eli Griefer began offering poems to people whilst filling their prescriptions and eventually started “poem-therapy” groups within the hospital environment. He was supported and encouraged by the psychiatrists Dr. Jack L. Leedy and Dr. Sam Spector. After Griefer’s death, Leedy and others continued to incorporate poetry into the therapeutic group process, eventually coming together to form the Association for Poetry Therapy (APT) in 1969.

The act of writing poetry can be deeply cathartic by purging emotions and relieving emotional tensions that might otherwise be difficult to express. It is an art form that encourages and permits the discharge of pent-up emotions which can result in a temporary and sometimes permanent resolution of psychological problems.
It dynamically relieves stress. As you write poetry, you can enter into the context of the poem and the rest of the world seems to disappear, as a dream sequence envelopes you and transports you deep within your consciousness. Your emotions, however painful, are lessened as you flow with your metaphors, down the poetic river into the cavernous depths of creativity. 

As each poetic meditation takes place, emotional pain starts to become healed. Living inside the metaphor sharpens the cognitive aspect of the mind, so when you are not writing, your thoughts become more positive and healthy. 

As you sink into the act of poetics by following imagery and metaphor, you become more aware of yourself and find joy in creativity. This in turn translates into your daily life as a greater sense of self awareness with a very positive perspective on your whole health and well being. 

You are not your thoughts and poetry is proof of this. You can separate from them totally during the act of writing. You are set free as your thoughts are confined to the page.

Some great poets have unfortunately found that writing by itself was not enough to save them. Suicide rates are much higher amongst poets than they are amongst authors of different genres, as well as the general population at large. Great poets such as John Berryman, Hart Crane and Sylvia Plath all ended their lives by committing suicide. This may be because many suicidal poets suffer from depressive disorders. 

It can be mooted that poetry holds an appeal for distraught poets, as it helps them to cope with their mood swings. Unfortunately, like many other treatments, it is not a panacea for all problems, it has its successes as well as its failures. For some, it is an answer and a solution in itself, but for others it fails to provide them with the complete emotional support that they so desperately require.
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THOUGHTS

8/5/2018

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 Ganesh the remover of obstacles.

​​Many of the mental problems that we suffer from come from the wrong use of our mind. Ayurveda fundamentally sees our thoughts as being objects. Our thoughts, emotions and feelings are not us, we merely observe them as they move through our consciousness. Whatever is being observed is not the one observing it. So all our thoughts that move through the channels of the mind, known as the Manovahasrotas, are observable. If we use our mind without true wisdom, we end up with a disturbed and troubled psyche and suffer as a result.

The good news is that if we use the mind correctly, we can begin to reverse problems such as anxiety, stress and depression. The correct use of the mind results in mental stability and fortitude.

So today, I will present you with this simple thought: your own undisciplined mind can do you more harm than anyone else who thinks negatively or badly about you. Their hateful thoughts are no more than their undisciplined observations. Your thoughts are what you observe and you have the innate ability to bring them under control. So, by disciplining your own mind correctly, you will not be bothered by any negative thoughts and feelings from those around you. If your mind is calm and serene, it remains unaffected by any bad opinions that others may hold against you and is free from fear and worry.

​Namaste!
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Provings? by Colin I. H. Perry The Bear Foot Doctor

8/4/2018

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​LYCOPODIUM CLAVACUM
 
Looking up
        you saw her nudity
bearing down
 
stunted by fears of impotence
you think of the honeyed sponges
hanging nonchalantly outside
             the nearby shop
 
                                                      lying here on this beach
                                                               looking up
                                                           seeing her nudity
                                                              bearing down
hard unforgiving pebbles digging in your back
she stands above you naked
talking of gay Paris
you continue meditating on soft wet sponges
drying in the sun
going up and down in the wind
 
if you ostensibly believe
that you are not really on this beach
with a girl standing over you
her nudity bearing down ------------------- but you are really
                                         going up and down the streets of Paris
 
her soft sponge like voice transporting you there
you walk the damp autumnal streets
as if in a dream
till the feet are sore
and daylight replaces lamp light
dancing in the puddles ----- walking on and on through the day until
dusk smudges the edges ------------------ of any arch triumphant or otherwise
 
take it all in ---------------------- write it all down
walk in the Paris night
whilst lying on a beach
of obdurate pebbles
digging in the back
looking up
 
nudity bearing down
sun smudged as dusk dances on the sea
waves rising up and down
all apprehension now subsides
a performance is about to begin
stunted growth disappears
 

as expansion takes centre stage

Provings?
Poems by Colin I. H. Perry 
The Bear Foot Doctor

This work concerns randomly selected homeopathic remedies found under the homeopathic rubric of “exhilaration”. In essence it needs no more than an open meditative mind to approach it. It is of course about everything and nothing – ebb, flow and alteration from different states of being to non-being, from subtle nuance to absurd overstatement. In other words, it seeks to be a random slice through the fabric of existence. It attempts to flirt with the physical, mental and spiritual all at the same time...
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    Author:
    ​Dr. Colin Perry

    Traditional Doctor of Naturopathy, Master Herbalist and Podiatrist.

    TELEPHONE
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