Monday, August 1, 2011

marimba medicine meat mares

Guatemala's national instrument is piping out from the woods. a house tucked behind out of sight sends the marimba out to accompany wren, titmice and cardinal. then a peacock trumpets from further in the forest. walking in the mid-day, the temperature feels perfect.  it took this long for me to remember how good BAREFOOT feels and ditch the shoes and feel the massage of dirt, grass, uneven terrain on my happy soles. i can feel yesterday's cathartic dance in my calf muscles. my body feels nourished, made it my practice, going inside starting from inside and allowing all movement outward to come from center, and the energy came easily and kept feeding, feeding itself. big selfish generous greedy movements, rhythmic agile feet, rocking body, twisting spiraling, and the subtlest smallest moves offering some of the richest and most delightful of sensations.


very helpful meeting with my naturopath today. endocrine fatigue + iron deficiency. she gave me an herbal tincture--Chinese Medicine and had me pick up a bottle of Floradix + iron...she did a bio-resonance stress test to assess levels of inflammation in my body and pick up food intolerance. as i already knew, i am sensitive to milk and wheat--the unexpected was cayenne pepper (wonder if that contributed to my pain when istarted the so-called master cleanse, which i aborted on day 2 because my lower back froze and i realized i was starving myself and ingesting sugar and how would that help me break the sugar habit??? sugar craving is a symptom of adrenal fatigue). her test found inflammation/ stress in my endocrine system--specifically hypothalmus, parathyroid, and pineal glands, all having to do with hormones, regulating body temperature, reproduction and menstrual cycles, hair growth, circadian rhythms, sensing tiredness, sensing hunger or fullness...and the body's ability to handle and recover from stress. all issues. she also gave me a brochure by the Weston A. Price Foundation, that promotes an omnivore diet for humans, including meat and saturated fat. it makes sense to me that our unhealth and disease is related to corn syrups and sugars. this article online "Twenty-Two Reasons Not to Go Vegetarian"  expresses some interesting points, in particular #8 on some of the issues i raised in my discussion of ahimsa. 


"Not a single bite of food reaches our mouths that has not involved the killing of animals. By some estimates, at least 300 animals per acre—including mice, rats, moles, groundhogs and birds—are killed for the production of vegetable and grain foods, often in gruesome ways. Only one animal per acre is killed for the production of grass-fed beef and no animal is killed for the production of grass-fed milk until the end of the life of the dairy cow.
And what about the human beings, especially growing human beings, who are suffering from nutrient deficiencies and their concomitant health problems as a consequence of a vegetarian diet? Or does only animal suffering count?
Of course, we should all work for the elimination of confinement animal facilities, which do cause a great deal of suffering in our animals, not to mention desecration of the environment. This will be more readily accomplished by the millions of meat eaters opting for grass-fed animal foods than by the smaller numbers of vegetarians boycotting meat.
Vegetarians wishing to make a political statement should strive for consistency. Cows are slaughtered not only to put steak on the table, but to obtain components used in soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, plastics, pharmaceuticals, waxes (as in candles and crayons), modern building materials and hydraulic brake fluid for airplanes. The membrane that vibrates in your telephone contains beef gelatin. So to avoid hypocrisy, vegetarians need to also refrain from using anything made of plastic, talking on the telephone, flying in airplanes, letting their kids use crayons, and living or working in modern buildings.
The ancestors of modern vegetarians would not have survived without using animal products like fur to keep warm, leather to make footwear, belts, straps and shelter, and bones for tools. In fact, the entire interactive network of life on earth, from the jellyfish to the judge, is based on the sacrifice of animals and the use of animal foods. There’s no escape from dependence on slaughtered animals, not even for really good vegan folks who feel wonderful about themselves as they finish their vegan meal."
i am not sure what to believe of all the contradictory studies cited and i am not going to say anyone is wrong for choosing vegetarianism. trust how the body feels, listen to its signal, and honor your own values. i was never vegetarian for moral reasons...as in "animal rights" but because i believed the vegetarian take on the link between meat and cancer and toxicity...and i'm sure this is true of factory-farmed flesh, but these are modern diseases that did not arise in the traditional diets that included meat. and my body has been feeling the consequences. i must say i have been feeling much more energetic, more balanced, more emotionally stable in the past week or so when i started changing my diet. too soon to tell, though. i do have more energy. i haven't actually added much meat--compared to the standard american diet, just more iron from diverse sources. more protein and vitamin bs. i  know it is a sensitive spot for many and really respect that people will make the choice that is best for them.


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how little i know of Horses. really. i've gone horseback riding a few times...the first with my dad in Rome, or just outside, and loved it. i felt safe, secure, and excited. the horse was gentle with me and we did not go very fast. i was a young girl--maybe 11 or 12? then Leon, a spirited horse who wanted to trot ahead of the line...on a narrow cliffside trail that dropped off steeply and sharply into abyss at glacier national park. i felt terrified the entire ride and my dad got very angry with me for it...the fear, the bad attitude, i guess. this was when i was 15, maybe. i just wanted to feel safe and comfortable, and i felt rushed being assigned to Leon without getting to know his temperament and not used to not having any control of his speed. so it took some courage for me to hop on a horse again in guatemala a couple years ago...i felt much more secure on flat open land. and with a patient couple of friends and our cowboy tour guide, who took my nervousness in comedic stride. it was mostly uncomfortably bouncy and was tiring for my body, numb rump. even with these few equine encounters i had never taken much time to observe and be present with and try to understand the experience of a horse. i just went to visit the 2 horses here and just quietly stood and watched curiously. i am in awe of their strange bodies...really unusual when i look at them innocently, as if i'd never seen a horse and was gazing at one for the first time. incredible creature. i notice a calmness and peace when i am near them. they both came close to me, the pony massaging herself on a tree next to me as I use my hand to pet her long body. the older, m, she comes right up to me, and i don't know what she wants or needs. i talk to her and pet her and try to listen and see...i'm no horse whisperer and her strange yawn-like dentile displays confuse me, her eye seems to be leaking water, crying--is she sad? too hot? do they need water? turns out a horse (from my research) yawning can indicate stress and releases endorphins for a calming effect. maybe the visit from a stranger causes tension even though they also approached me and came close to my body, their sides breathing into mine. glad to see their caretaker is here to replenish water and see to their needs. 

sad to be saying goodbye to this sweet family of animals tomorrow morning. what an awesome little vacation. goodnight, spoon.

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