Honoring the Temple

Feb 16, 2013

It's been a little more than a year since I cut my fingers on a table saw. That wakeup call has played out in significant ways in the intervening time. I am taking care of myself in new and dramatic ways, and I've only just begun.

 I am a student at the University of Santa Monica (USM) now, where I am studying Spiritual Psychology, "the study and practice of the art and science of the evolution of human consciousness". The significance of the mind's effect on physical well-being is becoming clear as I employ it in attempting to overcome aches and pains.

I have been seeing a Naturopathic healer who diagnosed me through a urinalysis lab test to have toxic levels of mercury and lead in my body. I have been ingesting homeopathic remedies to rid my body of the toxic metals.

As a result of the above test, I had the amalgam fillings from my teeth replaced by a dentist who specializes in this kind of work.

I've been seeing a chiropractor. I had about given up on chiropractic, concluding it was  a load of malarkey, but gave it one more try with a graduate of USM. He is very skilled and has reformed my opinion about the validity of the practice.

I have been taking vitamin and mineral supplements, reduced my ingestion of wheat to nearly zero, and tried to eat only organic produce and animal products raised without dangerous chemicals.

The most dramatic change in my body is in the level and intensity of what I was calling arthritic pains. A year ago, I suffered significant, debilitating pain in my hands, knees, back, and neck. Though I have a degree of pain in all those places, it's a fraction of what it was. A year ago, standing for several hours and welding would leave my legs sore, my hands nearly paralyzed in pain. This week I spent that amount of time shoveling sand and laying flagstone; then, I went dancing (this was after a night of only two hours sleep). I was barely aware the next day of anything taxing having occurred with me physically.

I'm playing guitar again. The middle finger on my left hand has no fat or functioning nerves in the tip and is stiff, so it's not easy getting it on the right string. I think there will be continued improvement over time though.

The singing lessons that I began a year ago continue, and in the last three months, I have begun to write songs. It turns out I'm a song writer. I've performed twice in public and once sung my original material.

Life is good. And like I say, I've only scratched the surface on my potential.