Take Out the Trash

It turns out that he'd gone to a well-known dermatologist's office for laser hair removal right after having spent some time in the sun. You see, laser hair removal works this way: the laser is attracted to the dark pigment in the hair at the follicle. If you're darker skinned (or have a tan like he did) and the technician isn't using caution, the laser can be attracted to the skin's natural pigment or to the tan. This can cause a terrible-looking checkerboard pattern on the skin . The worst part of it was that he had to film a major motion picture three weeks later and had to film scenes with his shirt off! When he came to us in search of a solution, we did a series of peels on his back to get rid of the discoloration and even out the pigment. But we didn't have enough time to totally reverse the damage, so we had to send a self-tanning specialist to the set for on-the-spot camouflage work. My husband and I went to see his movie, and at the end of the day, this actor looked great on-screen. You may have seen him yourself, and of course you would have had no idea what he went through to look that way. Let's take another look at that diagram of the skin you saw in article 1. Devotion, prayerful observance, and unconditional love. For the self, for a task, for another. Devotion is as risky as it gets. To be wholly devoted is to lose part of yourself. As Mary Oliver said, Attention is the beginning of devotion. To be devoted--to be disciplined, we become disciples to ourselves. We become champions of paying attention. In this place of risk--what are we willing to lose? Self-protection and care--not to protect us from what is within, but protecting us from the hardships of the world--is also part of what makes devotion risky. It is important to remember that living under the heteronormative white supremacist patriarchy creates so much harm, that our devotion practice is both asking to be dialed up, as well as protected from so many forces that are against so many of us, specifically BIPOC and trans communities.

Be clear about something that is more important to you than continuing the pattern. Commit to it. As you become aware of situations where you would tend to react as part of the unconscious pattern, stop, notice your tendency, and instead make a conscious response in line with your commitment. If you're saying that this is simplistic, you've tried this and it's harder than that--take another look. Did you skip over the first two steps? This is not an exercise in willpower. The trouble with depending on willpower--and I've used willpower successfully (short term) many times--is that we've only got one will. Not only do we tend to bounce back to the old pattern as soon as we let up and focus our willpower on something else, but it's often an unpleasant, grueling, ulcer-inducing experience to drag ourselves through life against all our unconscious tendencies solely through the use of willpower. I'm not talking about willpower. If you take the first two steps seriously (make it a priority to get crystal clear about what is most important to you in your life, and then commit to it), you will find the third step (actually following through on your commitment) to be not only possible, but also an empowering, self-honoring experience: just the opposite of forcing yourself through willpower and self-criticism. As per his family's wishes, a critically ill cancer patient named Paul Mills had been taken off life support and had been expected to die shortly afterward. Instead, his suffering and distress had only increased, even after receiving abnormally high doses of palliative narcotics. Several months later, Halifax police raided the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and charged respirologist Nancy Morrison with first-degree murder for administering an injection of potassium-chloride--a compound that can stop the heart--to Mills directly before his death. The case sparked national interest because it touched a nerve. There was a large grey area in the medical system. Where was the line between a doctor performing active euthanasia (or what was then known as assisted suicide--doing something to deliberately hasten a patient's death) and easing the discomfort of a dying person by giving them high doses of such drugs as morphine, a common practice that can, as a side effect, cause patients to die more quickly than they otherwise might? In midsummer, a couple of months after Dr Morrison had been charged, I began my job with CTV National News in Halifax. Morrison was still making headlines. Her story, and its relation to all those difficult questions about end-of-life care and our legal system, became my first. In my report, I broke down the Criminal Code.

ASK THE MAGIC QUESTION Lazy Genius Principle #3 The hours after school are a beast. After pickup, everyone is hungry and cranky, you have to be a fun cruise director for unwanted homework, the sun is shining (important for energy and vitamin D but not helpful in trying to get subtraction worksheets done), you have to make dinner, and all you want is a nap. You know it's coming. The frenzy after school shouldn't be a surprise, yet it still catches you off guard. Some days I leaned lazy and let the madness happen. Chaos reigned supreme, and I found solace in shouting at my children and consuming a stack of Oreos. Genius days weren't much better. I made plans for everything except flexibility, which is possibly the most prized item in a parent's toolbox, and lost my mind when something didn't happen according to my carefully crafted schedule. Now break it down into smaller pieces and consider the many steps that you will need to take to reach this goal, assigning a due date/time to each step. Writing tasks down can often relieve some of the pressure of holding everything in our heads, and the physical act of marking each completed step as done can act as extra encouragement. Procrastination is something that all of us do some of the time. It is a habitual response to performing tasks and responsibilities that we perceive to be adverse or difficult. We often assume that procrastination is a character flaw due to our lack of discipline and self-control. Not surprisingly, these negative assumptions tend to make us feel worse, leading to more negative thoughts and feelings. Research on procrastination has found that procrastination is not the result of poor self-control, but is an attempt to manage negative emotions. The same fear system that perceives social threats as dangerous rather than simply uncomfortable also perceives the discomfort caused by mild to moderately adverse tasks to be dangerous. Procrastination is an avoidance response that provides short-term relief from the distress of unpleasant tasks and culminates in increased distress in the long term. Procrastination is an ineffective coping strategy to manage negative feelings about these tasks.

During menopause there appears to be a connection between appetite and declining estrogen. According to Psychology Today, in perimenopause, levels of the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin increase, a reason why many women find themselves frequently hungry during this phase. Levels of the hormone leptin, which promotes a sense of fullness, reduce throughout peri- and postmenopause. And it appears that estrogen mimics the role of leptin, so optimal levels of estrogen help keep our hunger in check. But as these levels decline, we find that we simply can't stop eating. It's like a double whammy of unfairness. The great news is that you can retrain the way your body responds to food by focusing on specific habits that encourage you to feel true hunger before you eat and to recognize signs that indicate you are full enough. I call these hacks, and they are the focus of article 7. LOW ESTROGEN AND THE MENOPAUSE FLESH CLOAK At menopause we see the decline of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. If you want to take a nap, make sure you do so no later than 2 p. EATING YOUR WAY TO A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP As I mentioned in the previous article, a few years ago I wrote a article called The Clever Gut Diet, about the impact that the food we eat has on our microbiome, the trillions of microbes that live in our guts. The article included recipes and advice, shown to boost the good bacteria and minimize the bad. Improving your microbiome can help you lose weight, boost your immune system, and improve your mood. Since I wrote that article, there has been lots more research into the impact of food on mood, including some that has looked at the effect that specific foods have on our sleep. For example: An experiment carried out by researchers from the Institute of Human Nutrition in New York46 showed for the first time that feeding volunteers a diet rich in fiber and protein led to more deep sleep, while getting the same volunteers to eat foods rich in sugar and simple carbs led to more fragmented sleep. Another study, from the same group,47 which looked at the diet and sleeping patterns of more than 2,200 people across America, found that those with a high M score (see article 113) slept longer and better than those eating a more typical American diet. A study published in 2017,48 carried out by Professor Felice Jacka, director of the Food & Mood Centre in Melbourne, Australia, showed for the first time that putting people with moderate to severe depression on a Med-style diet led to such big improvements in mood that many were no longer clinically depressed.

Instruct the participating audience to sit with their legs crossed in front of them and their hands resting in their lap. You may choose to dim the room to create a more relaxing environment, but it is not necessary to do so. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths as you listen to the sound of my voice and the noise the air makes as it travels through you. We want to breathe in through our nose and then out through our mouth, holding the air inside for a count of three. After a few of these, you may return to your regular pattern. Inhale through your nose and hold it for a moment before exhaling through your mouth. Repeat this breath again, holding and then releasing. One more time, take a very deep breath and feel it in your belly before exhaling through your mouth. I want you to imagine that you are in a beautiful cave. Lanterns inside the cavern have illuminated it so that you can see in front of you. It is easy to eat unhealthily, but we are cutting our lives short because of it. The Western Diet & the Gut-Brain-Axis (GBA) The western diet is one that is laden in the foods that are easiest to reach in the western world. Sugary beverages, salty snacks, and simple, unhealthy foods are cheap and convenient for both those looking to make a profit and those looking for a quick and seemingly filling meal. However, consuming these foods can negatively impair our ability to take in and process information. Diets, especially ones high in sugar and sweetening additives like HFCS (high fructose corn sugar), may create too many bad bacteria in the brain, as do excess intakes of fat and sugar. Of course, many of these foods have been made to be extra tasty and extra desirable. It is important to remember that many of these food items may seem appealing at first. They are made sweeter or richer by adding in unhealthy additives. But, these types of inclusions will make the gut more toxic because the good bacteria will not thrive in the unhealthy environments that processed foods produce.