Healing Space with Todd Pesek, MD

Roots of Healing

Yay! My new column "Roots of Healing" debuts in the Summer 2008 issue (pg 57) of Organic Spa Magazine. Organic Spa is awesome! Dubbed one of the most notable launches of 2007, the founders Bev Maloney-Fischback, Publisher, and Mary Bemis, Editor in Chief, are infusing ancient spa wisdoms with modern green living! The Roots of Healing column explores rich and varied traditional health and wellness applications as supported by traditional practices the world over. We apply these wisdoms in health to the modern day for the health of people and planet!   

Check us out!

Visions of Healing in India

Yay! At long last, our documentary Visions of Healing in India is now online, have a look (after clicking on the link, place your cursor over the media window and then click play)!

Many thanks to all of you who have been waiting patiently for this moment, we all worked really hard on the filming and compilation of this work, here we are in the editing studio in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerela, India. This photo was taken after two days straight in the editing studio! We are all in a daze!

Thiruvanthapuram is also known locally as “the spice capital of the world" and "gods own country” for its rich history, culture and natural beauty. The area has rich healing traditions with oral lineage components of greater than thousands of years. For millennia people would flock to the region for its culinary and medicinal plants, natural splendor and biodiversity, and its deep healing traditions. Traditional healers of the area focus location and practice in several main traditional regions: the Western Ghats “spice mountains”, Kanyakumari “where the three oceans meet”, and the Back Waters “Venice of Asia”. The main healing traditions in practice in the region are: Ayurveda which is still taught in its original poetic Sanskrit form and via oral lineage; Naturopathic healing which focuses the power of the sun, moon, stars and elements of nature—earth and mud, water etc.; Herbalists who use natures pharmacopoeia to heal in harmony with the earth; Siddha; and a ritual healing practice involving sound, harmony, and rhythmic oscillations therapeutically and in a fashion unique to south Indians.

The documentary work gives a glimpse of healing traditions in each of these areas, but focuses on tribal healing traditions in three distinct ecological regions in the Western Ghats,  India. We explore the higher elevation montane evergreen forests, the lower elevation moist deciduous forests and the lowland backwaters and coastal areas, in particular. 

We learn about healing systems; adaptations of the respective populations to their environments; afflictions, modes of treatment, and community roles of healers. We also assess the need for and feasibility of programming focused on the conservation of biodiversity and culture via traditional healing. 

Our findings demonstrate intact traditional healing practices with unifying themes to include the premise that in sustaining health there must be healthful surroundings. And that “true healing is all around”. We also uncover strong willingness and need for the development of such initiatives in support of local and global health as well as in support of regional conservation programming.

Check it out, as most certainly there is much that we as a global people could learn from these traditions in our quest for true healing and sustainability for both people and planet!

Healing Across Cultures: Learning From Traditions

Our optimal health and wellness is absolutely dependent upon the healthful states of mind, body, and spirit which are inextricably intertwined with the energies of our environment and nature. Oddly, Western culture often seems to disregard this holism, especially our essential connection to nature, in its considerations of health and wellness as described by modern medicine.
            This disregard for the sanctity of nature and nature’s nurturance of our health is unlike that of many of the traditional cultures in the world. These cultures focus more on balance in the context of environmental respect and harmony. Varied cultures share remarkable similarities in their healing modalities, especially considering relative isolation from one to another—evidence that there is much truth to the healing knowledge they possess. We as a global people are not disconnected from the natural world in terms of health, but dependent and interconnected within ourselves and to everything around us. Social change is essential to assure that the mainstream practice of modern medicine evolves to incorporate this integral aspect of health and wellness, and this can be done through partnerships with cultural leaders, elders, and traditional healers.
            There is a growing demand for wellness and earthly responsibility. It is time to appropriately learn from age-old societies and their healing traditions for they do have answers we are seeking in sustainability and harmony, environmental stewardship and planetary respect, and holistic health. For thousands of years our ancestors have known the secrets of long life—this knowledge needs to be preserved through the apprenticeship of future generations. We must continue to work in collaborative form to develop mutually beneficial learning partnerships combining components of modern medical knowledge with the wisdom of traditional healers around the world.
            By developing the knowledge of traditional healers in a mutually beneficial exchange of wisdom and practice, all global communities can reap rewards through not only the development of holistic collaboration and innovation in healing, but also the generation of economically viable outlets for cultural self-empowerment and ecological integrity.
            This approach to global health and wellness will provide not only ways of healing ourselves as nature had intended, but also a reawakening to the benefits and health-giving resources of nature’s bounty. Along with this newfound awareness will emerge an inevitable respect for maintaining the environment that nurtures the world—people, animals, and plants. The growing realization of the intricate connections among mind, body, and spirit in the context of our natural world is long overdue within modern society. Our understanding of Healing Across Cultures sets us on a path that can lead only to a better sense of self within the context of the universe—a more and more appropriate idea as we increasingly discover ourselves as a global community.

Yuk! Fossil Fuels.

I have said it again and again and will continue to do so…….there is no human health without environmental health! 

How could we possibly expect to be healthful if we keep trashing the planet?

Our flowering friend here under a snowfall speaks volumes!

Seriously…… 

A concerted, monumental transition from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to ecologically friendly solar power is absolutely necessary. 

This switch could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050 (or more depending on innovations). Check out this well written Scientific American article, A Solar Grand Plan: By 2050 solar power could end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and slash greenhouse gas emissions. 

They point out that the potential of solar energy is absolutely astonishing! The energy of sunlight striking the earth for a mere 40 minutes is equivalent to annual global energy consumption. An entire year!

In the U.S. we are endowed with a quarter million square miles in the southwest which receives greater than 4,500 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTU’s) of solar radiation annually. Converting 2.5% of this energy would match the energy consumption of the U.S. in 2006.

The federal government would have to invest differently than it does now, but the return is much more substantive.  What a boost to our economy! Just what we need!!!

Well, what are we waiting for? 

High prices for gasoline and home heating oil are absolutely here to stay. Globally, we have reached peak oil and our patterns for accessing fossil fuels are becoming more and more costly and more and more destructive. The U.S.is at war in the Middle East, at least in part, for the protection of foreign oil interests. China, India and other rapidly developing nations continue to consume fossil fuels at exponential rates. This trend is sure to add complexities, disagreements, and continued environmental atrocities to the table.

In the meanwhile, companies and power plants operative on coal, oil and natural gas, as well as personal vehicles the world over, continue to ravage our environment as they pour millions of tons of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually. 

I mean seriously, they are blowing the tops off of mountains throughout my homelands of Appalachia. As if this is not bad enough, these companies then dump their toxic waste into local streams. My people and forests suffer! Horrible, absolutely horrible! Check out this article on Mountain Top Removal in the Boston Globe.

We need to act fact in influencing each other and in turn our policy makers and business!

Change emanates from within and starts at home!

Organic…..where to now?

Yes! Organic food production has been conclusively demonstrated, by science in support of common sense, to be more healthful, for both people and planet, then conventionally produced counterparts.

Seriously, who wants petrochemicals and a multitude of other toxicants in their food, in their food-chain, and in their neighborhood? These things ravage our health and the health of our ecosystems (a whole other post)!

After about a half century of hard work our Organic and healthfully minded community has developed demand in support of a large multibillion dollar healthful alternative to large scale industrial agriculture. 

This healthful alternative now hangs in the balance as large corporations and their powerful lobbyists infiltrate policymakers and move toward eliminating these alternatives.

There are several mechanisms by which this elimination is actively occurring. Several main issues are large scale corporate acquisition of smaller values-based companies, altering organic certification standards, and an overall lack of supply chain clarity. 

For example, check out Cornucopia Institute’s Who Owns Organics. They are doing a great job reporting on the work of Dr. Phil Howard, a Professor in the Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies program at Michigan State University.  Dr. Howard is responsible for the creation and updating of the organic food business consolidation chart on Cornucopia’s site.

In my view, it is clear and disturbing that a majority of the Organic industry is now owned by large-scale food processing entities.  

Also, check out the Organic Consumers Association as they point out numerous specifics on the lowering of Organic certification standards.

Yikes! So then, where to?

I came across a good post: Should “Organic” Have Stricter Rules? by Kyla of the Alternative Consumer. In fact, it was she and one of her commenter’s who inspired me to this post.

She asks a great question! And, one commenter stated a resounding yes, Organics should have more strict rules.

I respectfully disagree. We need more than this! We need less confusion all around!

The question points out some serious issues in need of careful attention. However, I do not believe that the solution lies within the realm of more strict labeling and certification requirements. Or even legislation for that matter.

In my view, it is what it is. And, if people keep buying it, it will keep on coming. This is all commerce here and now that there is money to be made in Organics, they will keep coming!

I believe solutions for improvement involve corporate transparency, authenticity and respect for the dignity of all consumers. Given the correct information, consumers, generally speaking, will make the correct choice.

We have seen this occur in the development of the green, Organic markets. People want what is good for them and the planet. The confusion sets in with smokescreens. We need to advocate for clarity and careful understanding of supply as then and only then would conscious consumerism be given the chance to work with the full potential that it has.

I want all the information in clear form when making my consumptive decisions and in effect as I vote with my commerce.

Ahhhhh, True Healing and the Emerald Isle!

Wow…….to say the least!

I just returned from a vortex of energy in Ireland where I, along with Victor Cal (a Maya elder with whom I work in Central America), gave a closing plenary presentation at a UN Conference on Health and Biodiversity. The gathering took place from Monday 25th to Thursday 28th February 2008 in Galway City, Ireland.

The event was absolutely off the hook!!!!!

It brought 170 delegates from over 70 countries together, from a multitude of disciplines and backgrounds, to collaborate on—get this, new approaches for protecting human health and well-being through the conservation and sustainable use of the world's biological diversity.

Yay, its about time!

Delegates included representatives of United Nations agencies, governmental orgs, NGOs, IGOs, (all the ooo’s, ohh's, ahh's and egg heads too!) academic institutions, health and environmental practitioners, students, and community representatives, including indigenous community leaders from every continent.

Many, many thanks to Conor Kretsch, COHAB Secretariat (one of the smartest most humble guys I know), and, Fidelma Murray, Event Coordinator (event king-pin!) for their vision, hard work and determination, and the great time! Many more to come on this road, I am sure!

Check em out here: http://www.cohabnet.org/   

The event outputs including DVD on opening and closing plenary (including our preso “Healing Across Cultures”) will be online.

Energy and commitment to all those who’s paths have once again merged with our own! 

Out in the cold with ya!

I know this time of year usually makes us want to jump back under the covers, but I have some homework for you. Yes, you can do it. Go ahead, don some nice cozy layers and get on out there! Free yourself as you walk and revel in the warmth your body creates. Breathe in with the trees and notice the clean, crisp smells carried in the cooler air this time of year brings. Listen to the sounds around you and just be.

Why? We are part of nature. Since time began, we have sought to enhance our own health by spending time with nature, in addition to engaging in physical and mental exercise, and eating a balanced diet. I send you out into the cold not in the proverbial sense, but only to spend time with the source of health that it is necessary for everyone to turn back to for true beauty: the earth.

Enjoy and be well!

Let's talk Ayurveda—what is it?

Ayurveda, the Sanskrit word meaning science, or wisdom of life, addresses the uniqueness of each person on a case by case basis in an effort to facilitate protection and health from within. It takes a comprehensive and holistic approach inclusive of spirituality and lifestyle and promotes careful consideration of and harmony with nature—as well as full immersion and engagement of ones senses, you know, taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing and then some!! It teaches that all illness affects both the body and the mind and that illness and treatment of ailments of the mind and body unity are inextricably intertwined. It teaches that human beings are highly complex organisms comprised of matter and antimatter and that a constant interaction and balance between these two is what determines the state of our mental and physical health. A dogma of Ayurveda is that no life function operates independently and that where there is imbalance, illness ensues. Ayurveda also asserts that the body is comprised of universal elements of air, earth, fire, water, and ether. These five elements also comprise the three doshas or bio-energies. These are vata, pitta,  and kapha and their influence is said to affect all mechanisms of the body. In most individuals, a dosha predominates and defines body type and temperament. The basis of treatment in Ayurveda is promoting balance of ones doshas. This balance is promoted via varied practices including lifestyle and dietary modification as well as detoxification therapies.

So, in health, embrace your senses!! Connect with our natural world and your nourishment in each form. In India, they eat with their hands. Go ahead and try it, and remember food is medicine.

Riding Elephants…..

Prior to traveling, in ceremony and among other offerings, I look to the sky… Here is my traveling sky! And with it, I am off to southern India where I will be working with traditional healers in harnessing the healing powers of our Earth Mother via healing plants, ceremony and our actions in conservation of biodiversity and culture. While there I will be directing symposia on Healing Across Cultures at two local universities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, our delegation is comprised of scholars, integrative medical practitioners and traditional healers from all around the world and all of whom come together in these venues to begin to effect positive change via traditional healing. We work together for true healing and a paradigmatic shift in wellness spawned by age-old tradition, the wisdom of our elders, and movement for conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

The area is known locally as “the spice capital of the world” and “gods own country” for its rich history, culture and natural beauty. The area has rich healing traditions with oral lineage components dating back thousands of years. For millennia people would flock to the region for its culinary and medicinal plants, natural splendor and biodiversity, and its deep healing traditions. Traditional healers of the area focus location and practice in different areas, the main traditional regions where we will be working are Kanyakumari Beach “where three oceans meet”, Spice Mountain, Western Ghats and Back Waters “Venice of Asia”. The main healing traditions in practice in the regions are: Ayurveda which is still taught in its original poetic Sanskrit and via oral lineage; Naturopathic healing which focuses the power of the sun, moon, stars and elements of nature—earth and mud, water et cetera; Herbalists who use natures pharmacopoeia to heal in harmony with the earth; and Unani siddha, a ritual healing practice involving sound, harmony, and rhythmic oscillations therapeutically and in a fashion unique to south Indians. 

Check back as I will update you throughout the adventure in healing. Also, I will be sure to ride an elephant in the Western Ghats!

Earth Healin’

As I sit and write this to the warm morning sunshine of my back porch, I am sipping my cup of Awaken Matcha, listening to the birds and the breeze sing and sigh, and reflecting on a really nice time that I just had in the woods. I love the woods.

Summer is such an amazingly energetic time. We all have felt the invigoration that a few warm rays will give…just ask those people who wear shorts and sandals at the first sign of fifty degrees after a long winter (yes, I am one of you…). The summertime buzz abounds in the woods as well. I personally love to run through the trees. This is something that heals me on many levels. It brings balance to my life, strength to my mind, spirit, body and soul. This last time, I was deep in a gorge and standing in a rich riparian area. I paused for a moment and looking up the watershed almost burst into tears. It was so breathtaking, so moving—the spirits so powerful and proud. It was then that I though of how much nature gives me, gives us. I am honored to be an Earth Healer.