Tag Archives: health

The NHS Reforms, Among Other Things.

Posted by on March 17, 2012 No comments

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

I’ve been watching the furore about the upcoming public services reforms and have been signing petitions to try to help stop the gutting of our public services.  To be honest, I can see us being steered towards a system of private health insurance, with all that this entails.  In addition to this, we’re looking at cuts to the availability of legal aid and also cuts to the assistance given to sick and disabled people.

Now, I don’t believe for a minute that the money can’t be found to preserve these things and this whole thing makes me wonder about the commentary this provides on the people running the show in this country.  Let’s be clear, these reforms will hit the poor and sick the hardest and we all know the old maxim that a society should be judged by how it treats the weak and vulnerable.  There are many variations on this theme and in my opinion, the most apt quote is the one above from Ghandi.

We must understand that the presence of these things shows our compassion for others in action, to just slash them would be a betrayal of this compassion for others and would also ignore the very real Karmic consequences of this act.  All of our actions have very real consequences, Karma is not a mystical thing and it can be readily observed in action.  The cumulative and ongoing negative effects of these shortsighted decisions will cause an enormous amount of harm to the life of our nation.  It’s not just the person who is refused treatment who suffers, it’s the family and friends, it’s the carers who have to take up the slack.  These effects ripple outward, in the same way that the closure of a large factory (e.g. the Rover plant at Longbridge) has an effect on the local community and the supply chain.

Let’s hope common sense prevails, before we all suffer.

A Little More Slowness

Posted by on January 25, 2012 1 comment

I’ve revisited the idea of slowness recently and touched again on Wu-Wei when I thought about accepting our limitations. I saw this article in the New York Times a week or two ago and remembered it as tying in with the things I was talking about quite nicely. The article makes the case very well that Yoga is not as safe as we’d all like to believe. My opinion is that this is true of anything; which is why, in my SitQuietly instructions, I give a warning to consult your medical practitioner before taking up a meditation practise. But this article makes specific mention of people who seem to be treating Yoga as if it were a performance sport, specifically one man who threw himself into a spine twist and had three ribs give way.

The article says a lot of things that ring true for me, that echo my own gym and Tai Chi experiences. I realised a long time ago that it was up to me to make things easy on myself, that I had to do this by realising and respecting my limits. Apply Wu-Wei, don’t do things at an inappropriate speed, don’t force yourself into exercises that are inappropriate for your body type or mental state. When growth in our abilities occurs it should be unforced and as a result of the “70 percent rule”, which I’ve talked about before. This says that you work to 70 percent of your potential, with the other 30 percent held back for growth and improvement. Eventually, your 70 percent is equal to what used to be your 100 percent, and you’re still only giving 70 percent!

My other observation is that practises like Yoga, meditation and Tai Chi are not performance sports. The wisdom of Wu-Wei and the Slow Movement comes back again to the fore, these things are healing arts without a doubt; but only when used appropriately and at the right pace! They can heal your body and mind, but will do so in their own time, to try to hurry things seems to me to be a mistake. One that can only end badly as well. We in the West seem to be bringing our own neurotic hurried flavour to these things, but in doing so I worry that we lose a lot of their essence and bring ourselves further pain.

Accepting Our Limitations

Posted by on January 22, 2012 No comments

In a few posts recently, I’ve mentioned our limitations. It’s a theme that has reoccurred through my writing and something that I think is worth exploring a little more.

I’ve found throughout my career, both in the gym and in the workplace that some people seem to have a disdain for the idea of limitations. This doesn’t just apply to themselves, but to the tools and technology around them. I remember after a server problem at a previous employer, the Managing Director asked the Head of IT how long the server would take to get back into service. As the database needed to be verified, the answer was “about 45 minutes”; to which the MD replied “make it 10 minutes”. This wasn’t possible, of course, things had to be given time to run their course; the job had to be done properly.

I have seen this in the gym before, I’ve done it myself. Do extra classes, push that bit too hard, then things start aching and hurting. Oops. Eventually, I discovered Tai Chi and Taoism and learned from these things and some very wise people that it was OK not to keep pushing the limits. There is more dignity to be found in accepting the limitations of our bodies, mind and technologies with simple realism, than in striving to do the impossible and cursing when meeting with failure. I also learned that you need to pay attention to your body and mind, that the warning signs of approaching limits are there.

When we fall into this trap, we all pay a physical and mental price for it. Stress and burnout are very real in our minds, they take an awful toll on our health and our bodies. We sustain numerous injuries, both minor and major, from refusing to accept that it’s time to stop exercising. But it is, through the practise of mindfulness and humility, possible to stop this.

I think that these are things that need more emphasis, as in this case they work hand in hand. Mindfulness helps us with our work or exercise and also lets us spot the warning signs; humility helps us put our egos aside and walk away unharmed.

Cycling towards greater awareness

Posted by on May 13, 2009 2 comments

I’ve been getting out on the bike a bit more recently, one of the things I’m enjoying is the greater level of awareness it brings to the process of travelling.

I have a better understanding now of what Robert M Pirsig was talking about in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance when he wrote:

“In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through the car window everything you see is just more TV.  You’re just a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

On a cycle the frame is gone.  You’re completely in contact with it all.  You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.”

I agree, I also know that I am also more present in the moment when I’m on the bike, there are fewer distractions.  Now leaving aside the practise of cyclists who wear mp3 players, which to my mind is just plain dangerous, there are just fewer things to distract you on a bike as opposed to driving a car.  I speak as a driver with more than 15 years experience, no stereo, no conversations or arguments, no mobile phone while driving.  Know what?  It’s great….

The sheer extra sense of presence is well worth it, and I’m rediscovering a whole side to my home town I’d forgotten about and areas that I’d never seen but can now explore more easily.  It occurs to me that you really do miss an awful lot in a car.

Simple measures

Posted by on June 23, 2008 No comments

This caught my eye on BBC News today, a simple of story of dehydration and older folk.  To summarise the article staff at a nursing home have found that if you make sure that older folk get plenty of water they stay healthier and more active and alert.  To quote the article directly:

“They report significant improvements in health as a result – many fewer falls, fewer GP call-outs, a cut in the use of laxatives and in urinary infections, better quality of sleep, and lower rates of agitation among residents with dementia. “

I’ve found that making sure I get enough water has had beneficial effects in my own daily experience.  I recommend it to everyone and this story simply confirms what I already knew, that the simple daily measures can be better than all the expensive drugs in the world.  Is it wrong of me to feel strangely vindicated as I type that?

You can find the original BBC News article here.

Trying to go veggie, third time lucky?

Posted by on February 13, 2008 5 comments

Well, I’ve decided to make the effort to go Vegetarian again.  I started this a little over two weeks ago, this’ll be the third time in my life I’ve tried, all these attempts have been recently in the last couple of years.

My reasons are for health and because of my Buddhist / Taoist views.  It also feels right on level that I can’t articulate, I know that if I fail this time, then there will be a fourth attempt.

I’m trying a gradual change, my breakfast is already fully veggie, lunch is my next target and I’ve already achieved it.  I just need to get my diet right to sustain my gym activity before I start to move my evening meals over.

It’s interesting that I seem to be eating a greater quantity of food and experiencing some light headedness.  A vegetarian friend tells me that the greater volume is normal and I think the light headedness is because I need to get my dietary balance worked out fully, but this is exactly why I’m doing a gradual change. 

Last time, it was my exercise habits that beat me, but from what I can see there’s no reason whatsoever that a Vegetarian can’t be a bodybuilding or triathlete or whatever.

I’ll keep my blog updated with the things I learn as I go along, hopefully my trial and error will come in handy for someone else!