"that's where we are as human beings - we're deeply hooked into one another...from the beginning of life, from conception to the very end"
According to girls' journals, 50-60 years ago their primary concern was the contribution they could make to society, now it's "what do I look like?" or "will I be accepted by my peers?"
Authority comes from attachment.
Self-esteem is not about what others think of us or peer approval.
Development needs vulnerability. The primary quality for learning is a sense of curiosity, curiosity is vulnerable, it means you care about something and that you don't know.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Thursday, 24 February 2011
The Trecena of Source
Ix, the Jaguar, is one of the most enigmatic and mystical animals on earth. Called “the silk hand” in South America for its soundless, soft step that you don’t hear until it’s too late, the jaguar embodies the very source of Mother Earth, bearing a deep, feminine energy that heals as well as culls, bearing a profound intuition about the essence of all things, and everlasting patience that follows in the footsteps of time until that critical split-second of decisive action arrives.
Endowed with extraordinary strength and resilience, Ix rules the spirit of jungles, plains and mountains. Its intelligence often comes paired with clairvoyance—and there is no surprise there, as this powerful energy is free of the debilitating effects of ego, ambition, judgment, fear and control.
So when you connect to your source, remember that this too is yours, this primal, unspoken and ancient energy that underpins our collective consciousness. Here, no ego, no judgment, no self-doubt or fear exist, for these mindsets are far too close to the surface of our human emotions to have any impact on the ancient archetypes, the elemental currents underlying life itself.
Many native traditions emphasize the importance of walking to commune with Nature and her soul—and, by extension, our own. This tradition has been nearly lost on the modern world, where even those of us who do take walks in the outdoors rarely stop to look and listen to the extraordinary diversity of life all around us. So next time you take a walk, with a friend, colleague or family, try to talk less and listen more.
Liberate yourself from the shackles of societal imprints, and walk the path of the Jaguar—you alone, in tune with your own natural essence.
~ Birgitte Rasine
Endowed with extraordinary strength and resilience, Ix rules the spirit of jungles, plains and mountains. Its intelligence often comes paired with clairvoyance—and there is no surprise there, as this powerful energy is free of the debilitating effects of ego, ambition, judgment, fear and control.
So when you connect to your source, remember that this too is yours, this primal, unspoken and ancient energy that underpins our collective consciousness. Here, no ego, no judgment, no self-doubt or fear exist, for these mindsets are far too close to the surface of our human emotions to have any impact on the ancient archetypes, the elemental currents underlying life itself.
Many native traditions emphasize the importance of walking to commune with Nature and her soul—and, by extension, our own. This tradition has been nearly lost on the modern world, where even those of us who do take walks in the outdoors rarely stop to look and listen to the extraordinary diversity of life all around us. So next time you take a walk, with a friend, colleague or family, try to talk less and listen more.
Liberate yourself from the shackles of societal imprints, and walk the path of the Jaguar—you alone, in tune with your own natural essence.
~ Birgitte Rasine
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking?
Here are some leading theories about the why the human brain has been getting smaller since the Stone Age.
by Kathleen McAuliffe; illustrations by Stuart Bradford
From the September 2010 issue of Discover; published online January 20, 2011
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/sep/25-modern-humans-smart-why-brain-shrinking
John Hawks is in the middle of explaining his research on human evolution when he drops a bombshell. Running down a list of changes that have occurred in our skeleton and skull since the Stone Age, the University of Wisconsin anthropologist nonchalantly adds, “And it’s also clear the brain has been shrinking.”
“Shrinking?” I ask. “I thought it was getting larger.” The whole ascent-of-man thing.
“That was true for 2 million years of our evolution,” Hawks says. “But there has been a reversal.”
He rattles off some dismaying numbers: Over the past 20,000 years, the average volume of the human male brain has decreased from 1,500 cubic centimeters to 1,350 cc, losing a chunk the size of a tennis ball. The female brain has shrunk by about the same proportion. “I’d call that major downsizing in an evolutionary eyeblink,” he says. “This happened in China, Europe, Africa—everywhere we look.” If our brain keeps dwindling at that rate over the next 20,000 years, it will start to approach the size of that found in Homo erectus, a relative that lived half a million years ago and had a brain volume of only 1,100 cc. Possibly owing to said shrinkage, it takes me a while to catch on. “Are you saying we’re getting dumber?” I ask.
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Hawks, a bearish man with rounded features and a jovial disposition, looks at me with an amused expression. “It certainly gives you a different perspective on the advantage of a big brain,” he says.
After meeting with Hawks, I call around to other experts to see if they know about our shrinking brain. Geneticists who study the evolution of the human genome seem as surprised as I am (typical response: “No kidding!”), which makes me wonder if I’m the world’s most gullible person. But no, Hawks is not pulling my leg. As I soon discover, only a tight-knit circle of paleontologists seem to be in on the secret, and even they seem a bit muddled about the matter. Their theories as to why the human brain is shrinking are all over the map.
Some believe the erosion of our gray matter means that modern humans are indeed getting dumber. (Late-night talk show hosts, take note—there’s got to be some good comic material to mine here.) Other authorities argue just the opposite: As the brain shrank, its wiring became more efficient, transforming us into quicker, more agile thinkers. Still others believe that the reduction in brain size is proof that we have tamed ourselves, just as we domesticated sheep, pigs, and cattle, all of which are smaller-brained than their wild ancestors. The more I learn, the more baffled I become that news of our shrinking brain has been so underplayed, not just in the media but among scientists. “It’s strange, I agree,” says Christopher Stringer, a paleoanthropologist and expert on human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. “Scientists haven’t given the matter the attention it deserves. Many ignore it or consider it an insignificant detail.”
But the routine dismissal is not as weird as it seems at first blush, Stringer suggests, due to the issue of scaling. “As a general rule,” he says, “the more meat on your bones, the more brain you need to control massive muscle blocks.” An elephant brain, for instance, can weigh four times as much as a human’s. Scaling is also why nobody seems too surprised by the large brains of the Neanderthals, the burly hominids that died out about 30,000 years ago.
The Homo sapiens with the biggest brains lived 20,000 to 30,000 years ago in Europe. Called the Cro-Magnons, they had barrel chests and huge, jutting jaws with enormous teeth. Consequently, their large brains have often been attributed to brawniness rather than brilliance. In support of that claim, one widely cited study found that the ratio of brain volume to body mass—commonly referred to as the encephalization quotient, or EQ—was the same for Cro-Magnons as it is for us. On that basis, Stringer says, our ancestors were presumed to have the same raw cognitive horsepower.
Now many anthropologists are rethinking the equation. For one thing, it is no longer clear that EQs flatlined back in the Stone Age. Recent studies of human fossils suggest the brain shrank more quickly than the body in near-modern times. More important, analysis of the genome casts doubt on the notion that modern humans are simply daintier but otherwise identical versions of our ancestors, right down to how we think and feel. Over the very period that the brain shrank, our DNA accumulated numerous adaptive mutations related to brain development and neurotransmitter systems—an indication that even as the organ got smaller, its inner workings changed. The impact of these mutations remains uncertain, but many scientists say it is plausible that our temperament or reasoning abilities shifted as a result.
Numerous phone calls later, it dawns on me that the world’s foremost experts do not really know why our organ of intellect has been vanishing. But after long ignoring the issue, some of them have at least decided the matter is of sufficient importance to warrant a formal inquiry. They have even drawn some bold, albeit preliminary, conclusions.
DUMBING DOWN
In search of a global explanation for our cranial downsizing, some scientists have pointed to a warming trend in the earth’s climate that also began 20,000 years ago. Since bulky bodies are better at conserving heat, larger frames may have fared better in the colder climate. As the planet warmed, selection might have favored people of slighter stature. So, the argument goes, skeletons and skulls shrank as the temperature rose—and the brain got smaller in the process. Stringer thinks there is something to that idea, but he doubts it is the whole explanation. As he points out, comparable warming periods occurred many times over the previous 2 million years, yet body and brain size regularly increased.
Another popular theory attributes the decrease to the advent of agriculture, which, paradoxically, had the initial effect of worsening nutrition. Quite simply, the first farmers were not very successful at eking out a living from the land, and their grain-heavy diet was deficient in protein and vitamins—critical for fueling growth of the body and brain. In response to chronic malnutrition, our body and brain might have shrunk. Many anthropologists are skeptical of that explanation, however. The reason: The agricultural revolution did not arrive in Australia or southern Africa until almost contemporary times, yet brain size has declined since the Stone Age in those places, too.
Which brings us to an unpleasant possibility. “You may not want to hear this,” says cognitive scientist David Geary of the University of Missouri, “but I think the best explanation for the decline in our brain size is the idiocracy theory.” Geary is referring to the eponymous 2006 film by Mike Judge about an ordinary guy who becomes involved in a hibernation experiment at the dawn of the 21st century. When he wakes up 500 years later, he is easily the smartest person on the dumbed-down planet. “I think something a little bit like that happened to us,” Geary says. In other words, idiocracy is where we are now.
by Kathleen McAuliffe; illustrations by Stuart Bradford
From the September 2010 issue of Discover; published online January 20, 2011
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/sep/25-modern-humans-smart-why-brain-shrinking
John Hawks is in the middle of explaining his research on human evolution when he drops a bombshell. Running down a list of changes that have occurred in our skeleton and skull since the Stone Age, the University of Wisconsin anthropologist nonchalantly adds, “And it’s also clear the brain has been shrinking.”
“Shrinking?” I ask. “I thought it was getting larger.” The whole ascent-of-man thing.
“That was true for 2 million years of our evolution,” Hawks says. “But there has been a reversal.”
He rattles off some dismaying numbers: Over the past 20,000 years, the average volume of the human male brain has decreased from 1,500 cubic centimeters to 1,350 cc, losing a chunk the size of a tennis ball. The female brain has shrunk by about the same proportion. “I’d call that major downsizing in an evolutionary eyeblink,” he says. “This happened in China, Europe, Africa—everywhere we look.” If our brain keeps dwindling at that rate over the next 20,000 years, it will start to approach the size of that found in Homo erectus, a relative that lived half a million years ago and had a brain volume of only 1,100 cc. Possibly owing to said shrinkage, it takes me a while to catch on. “Are you saying we’re getting dumber?” I ask.
advertisement | article continues below
Hawks, a bearish man with rounded features and a jovial disposition, looks at me with an amused expression. “It certainly gives you a different perspective on the advantage of a big brain,” he says.
After meeting with Hawks, I call around to other experts to see if they know about our shrinking brain. Geneticists who study the evolution of the human genome seem as surprised as I am (typical response: “No kidding!”), which makes me wonder if I’m the world’s most gullible person. But no, Hawks is not pulling my leg. As I soon discover, only a tight-knit circle of paleontologists seem to be in on the secret, and even they seem a bit muddled about the matter. Their theories as to why the human brain is shrinking are all over the map.
Some believe the erosion of our gray matter means that modern humans are indeed getting dumber. (Late-night talk show hosts, take note—there’s got to be some good comic material to mine here.) Other authorities argue just the opposite: As the brain shrank, its wiring became more efficient, transforming us into quicker, more agile thinkers. Still others believe that the reduction in brain size is proof that we have tamed ourselves, just as we domesticated sheep, pigs, and cattle, all of which are smaller-brained than their wild ancestors. The more I learn, the more baffled I become that news of our shrinking brain has been so underplayed, not just in the media but among scientists. “It’s strange, I agree,” says Christopher Stringer, a paleoanthropologist and expert on human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. “Scientists haven’t given the matter the attention it deserves. Many ignore it or consider it an insignificant detail.”
But the routine dismissal is not as weird as it seems at first blush, Stringer suggests, due to the issue of scaling. “As a general rule,” he says, “the more meat on your bones, the more brain you need to control massive muscle blocks.” An elephant brain, for instance, can weigh four times as much as a human’s. Scaling is also why nobody seems too surprised by the large brains of the Neanderthals, the burly hominids that died out about 30,000 years ago.
The Homo sapiens with the biggest brains lived 20,000 to 30,000 years ago in Europe. Called the Cro-Magnons, they had barrel chests and huge, jutting jaws with enormous teeth. Consequently, their large brains have often been attributed to brawniness rather than brilliance. In support of that claim, one widely cited study found that the ratio of brain volume to body mass—commonly referred to as the encephalization quotient, or EQ—was the same for Cro-Magnons as it is for us. On that basis, Stringer says, our ancestors were presumed to have the same raw cognitive horsepower.
Now many anthropologists are rethinking the equation. For one thing, it is no longer clear that EQs flatlined back in the Stone Age. Recent studies of human fossils suggest the brain shrank more quickly than the body in near-modern times. More important, analysis of the genome casts doubt on the notion that modern humans are simply daintier but otherwise identical versions of our ancestors, right down to how we think and feel. Over the very period that the brain shrank, our DNA accumulated numerous adaptive mutations related to brain development and neurotransmitter systems—an indication that even as the organ got smaller, its inner workings changed. The impact of these mutations remains uncertain, but many scientists say it is plausible that our temperament or reasoning abilities shifted as a result.
Numerous phone calls later, it dawns on me that the world’s foremost experts do not really know why our organ of intellect has been vanishing. But after long ignoring the issue, some of them have at least decided the matter is of sufficient importance to warrant a formal inquiry. They have even drawn some bold, albeit preliminary, conclusions.
DUMBING DOWN
In search of a global explanation for our cranial downsizing, some scientists have pointed to a warming trend in the earth’s climate that also began 20,000 years ago. Since bulky bodies are better at conserving heat, larger frames may have fared better in the colder climate. As the planet warmed, selection might have favored people of slighter stature. So, the argument goes, skeletons and skulls shrank as the temperature rose—and the brain got smaller in the process. Stringer thinks there is something to that idea, but he doubts it is the whole explanation. As he points out, comparable warming periods occurred many times over the previous 2 million years, yet body and brain size regularly increased.
Another popular theory attributes the decrease to the advent of agriculture, which, paradoxically, had the initial effect of worsening nutrition. Quite simply, the first farmers were not very successful at eking out a living from the land, and their grain-heavy diet was deficient in protein and vitamins—critical for fueling growth of the body and brain. In response to chronic malnutrition, our body and brain might have shrunk. Many anthropologists are skeptical of that explanation, however. The reason: The agricultural revolution did not arrive in Australia or southern Africa until almost contemporary times, yet brain size has declined since the Stone Age in those places, too.
Which brings us to an unpleasant possibility. “You may not want to hear this,” says cognitive scientist David Geary of the University of Missouri, “but I think the best explanation for the decline in our brain size is the idiocracy theory.” Geary is referring to the eponymous 2006 film by Mike Judge about an ordinary guy who becomes involved in a hibernation experiment at the dawn of the 21st century. When he wakes up 500 years later, he is easily the smartest person on the dumbed-down planet. “I think something a little bit like that happened to us,” Geary says. In other words, idiocracy is where we are now.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Earthing - go barefoot!
Earthing might be a better antioxidant than foods and supplements combined. We've insulated ourselves from the earth's unlimited supply of electrons since we began wearing rubber soled shoes in the 1960s. Earthing (or grounding) rejoins us with earth's natural healing energy. A plethora of studies document the amazing effects of earthing as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, pain-reliever, wound-healer, nervous system balancer, blood sugar regulator, thyroid regulator, cortisol regulator, and blood thinner. The second benefit of earthing is that it protects you from EMFs*. Alix demonstrates this effect using a voltmeter. (*I say in the video that earthing "discharges" EMFs, but "protects" or "shields" is probably more accurate.) Sounds too good to be true? Early studies do support these findings. In Part 1, Alix gets a bit personal & shares some of her story of a missed Lyme diagnosis and how earthing has helped her 14 year-long headache and 8 year-long battle with Lyme-inducted insomnia. More info on earthing: www.earthing.com
more wild edibles
In Cornwall, but to be found in many other places:
gorse flowers - they taste a bit like coconut
rose garlic
and most seaweed is edible, with a few exceptions - if you fancy it...
gorse flowers - they taste a bit like coconut
rose garlic
and most seaweed is edible, with a few exceptions - if you fancy it...
Monday, 21 February 2011
wonderful rhodiola
I don't generally use this blog as a place to promote products, but as so few people I meet seem to have heard of rhodiola and it is so wonderful I am going to mention it here. When I occasionally provide refreshments for talks and events I always turn up with the usual teas and coffees that I know most people will want but also with my supplies of tulsi, ginkgo and rhodiola and I am always encouraged by the positive response when i explain about them. Personally i think that in the current state of play many of us need some kind of stimulation to keep our brains working at very best. To keep it short, our pineal and other glands are under producing important hormones and also we live in suppressing unnatural environments. Years ago I was a user of caffeine and alcohol, which I personally felt in the end to be detrimental to my freedom - they gave me something but took away more. I have also been through an abstemious strictly raw phase where I would hardly even allow myself a cup of herbal tea - I was straining at the leash...I now use herbal teas that fill the gap, helping my mind become clearer and boosting those neurotransmitters in a sustainable way.
Rhodiola rosea is a root grown in Russia that provides a healthy caffeine free alternative to coffee and tea. It is useful for mental work - it gives you that edge of clarity and bit of a buzz that a cup of coffee gives you without the side-effects and can be used to help stay awake if needing to work or wanting to play late. I drink it mixed with ginkgo (improves memory) and tulsi (adaptogen and relaxant) early in the day. It is becoming increasingly popular in the Russian party scene as an alternative to unhealthy stimulants.
Basically rhodiola is a kind of 'good for everything' folk remedy which also increases serotonin levels (caffeine reduces them - not many people know this) and gives you a healthy lift without a come down.
"Folk medicine has used rhodiola for practically every known ailment; to increase energy, endurance, longevity, stimulate sexual arousal, enhance mood and psychic abilities. In Siberian mountain villages, the roots are still given to couples prior to marriage to assure fertility and many healthy children. It's just now getting notice here in the west due to extensive pharmacological and clinical studies showing Rhodiola to enhance cognition; improving memory and learning, greatly reduce stress and fatigue, stimulate the immune system, increase metabolism, aid thyroid function, protect the cardiovascular system, boost fertility and sexual function, and alleviate depression.
Modern research has shown that it increases the body's resistance to any type of stress by regulating the body's hormonal response. Its use has been shown to have a protective effect upon the neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine in the brain. The root also enhances the transport of serotonin's precursors into the brain and studies have shown that use of this herb can increase brain serotonin by up to 30%. It has an enhancing effect upon physical endurance. Taken late in the day, the root's powerful psychostimulant effects can keep you awake, and once asleep induce vivid dreams. The root is an adaptogen. Unlike most adaptogens that need to be taken for several weeks to be effective, rhodiola begins to act with the first dose. "
Rhodiola rosea is a root grown in Russia that provides a healthy caffeine free alternative to coffee and tea. It is useful for mental work - it gives you that edge of clarity and bit of a buzz that a cup of coffee gives you without the side-effects and can be used to help stay awake if needing to work or wanting to play late. I drink it mixed with ginkgo (improves memory) and tulsi (adaptogen and relaxant) early in the day. It is becoming increasingly popular in the Russian party scene as an alternative to unhealthy stimulants.
Basically rhodiola is a kind of 'good for everything' folk remedy which also increases serotonin levels (caffeine reduces them - not many people know this) and gives you a healthy lift without a come down.
"Folk medicine has used rhodiola for practically every known ailment; to increase energy, endurance, longevity, stimulate sexual arousal, enhance mood and psychic abilities. In Siberian mountain villages, the roots are still given to couples prior to marriage to assure fertility and many healthy children. It's just now getting notice here in the west due to extensive pharmacological and clinical studies showing Rhodiola to enhance cognition; improving memory and learning, greatly reduce stress and fatigue, stimulate the immune system, increase metabolism, aid thyroid function, protect the cardiovascular system, boost fertility and sexual function, and alleviate depression.
Modern research has shown that it increases the body's resistance to any type of stress by regulating the body's hormonal response. Its use has been shown to have a protective effect upon the neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine in the brain. The root also enhances the transport of serotonin's precursors into the brain and studies have shown that use of this herb can increase brain serotonin by up to 30%. It has an enhancing effect upon physical endurance. Taken late in the day, the root's powerful psychostimulant effects can keep you awake, and once asleep induce vivid dreams. The root is an adaptogen. Unlike most adaptogens that need to be taken for several weeks to be effective, rhodiola begins to act with the first dose. "
edible wild greens
In South Devon the wild greens are now emerging out of the hedgerows.
Unlike with some other greens, you can consume lots of nettles for a long time and get nothing but benefit; I juice hundreds of them with unwashed organic carrots to bulk the juice out. Raw carrots contain the monatomic elements rhodium and iridium which facilitate subtle perception. Nettles increase serotonin levels, raise metabolic rate, and very mild positive psychoactive effects. You can juice nettles with a twin gear or hand turned juicer or add the leaves to a juice in a blender and drink with a straw.
Young cleavers are also great juiced or in salad and are very cleansing. I was delighted to find some garlic mustard peeping out between them today.
Penny wort is a lovely mild leaf for salads.
and wild garlic is also lovely in salads; also blended with tomato, sun-dried tomato, avocado, carrot and spring water to make a raw soup.
Unlike with some other greens, you can consume lots of nettles for a long time and get nothing but benefit; I juice hundreds of them with unwashed organic carrots to bulk the juice out. Raw carrots contain the monatomic elements rhodium and iridium which facilitate subtle perception. Nettles increase serotonin levels, raise metabolic rate, and very mild positive psychoactive effects. You can juice nettles with a twin gear or hand turned juicer or add the leaves to a juice in a blender and drink with a straw.
Young cleavers are also great juiced or in salad and are very cleansing. I was delighted to find some garlic mustard peeping out between them today.
Penny wort is a lovely mild leaf for salads.
and wild garlic is also lovely in salads; also blended with tomato, sun-dried tomato, avocado, carrot and spring water to make a raw soup.
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