Saturday, June 18, 2011

TNS#77: Clearing The Air (Between the Sexes)

The Next Step #77 was taped 3/8/11 and featured Gordon Clay in a show titled Clearing The Air (Between Women & Men). Shauna Wilson Mora, Gordon's co-facilitator in their Clearing The Air workshops, was hoping to join us but didn't make it. Gordon and Shauna have run workshops together since 1993, under the names Healing The Father Wound, Healing The Mother Wound, and Family Reunion.

From their clearingtheair.net site:
"Turn what has impacted your life into the impact you can have in your life.
Transform: reaction into the power of choice, coping and settling into living with passion, numbness into clear, appropriate, emotional expression, fear of conflict into opportunities for positive change, blame and guilt into accountability, shame and/or resentment into forgiveness."

"The highly acclaimed Clearing the Air Workshop series features various interactive group experiences. It explores the wounds we hold around our family of origin, and how these initial wounds have continued to impact our adult lives. The series is designed to help men and women break through the unresolved issues that impede forgiveness and personal freedom.
The workshops are experiential in nature. There is very little lecture. The intention is to break through barriers and old patterns through movement, Tantrum Yoga® express and release work, breathwork, psychodrama, meditation, and processes that excavate wounds and ties that keep us stuck. It is an intense and transformational series.
Healing the Father Wound® and Healing the Mother Wound® workshops are four-night, three-day events offered for 12 men or 12 women. Clearing the Air™ Between Women & Men is a six-day, five-night event for 6 men and 6 women (not couples) who have completed both previous workshops."

Gordon Clay is also the creator of menstuff.org - the largest website in the world on men's issues, online since 1985. Our discussion was wide-ranging and highly enjoyable. Gordon lives in southern OR now so it was a treat to be able to catch him on the road. Gordon also spent years traveling the U.S. with his mobile Mens Resource Center library van. It was nice to see him participating in the recent (june'11) ultimatemenssummit.org online conference.

"Man's inherent nature is to be curious, gentle, intimate, responsible, enthusiastic, sensual, tolerant, courageous, honest, vulnerable, affectionate, proud, spiritual, committed, wild, nurturing, peaceful, helpful, intense, compassionate, happy, and to fully and safely express all emotions. When will we stop training him to be otherwise?"
-- Gordon Clay

Monday, June 6, 2011

TNS#76: A Return to Healing

TheNextStep show #76 was taped 1/24/11, with Dr. Len Saputo about his book A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine (www.doctorsaputo.com, healthmedicinecenter.net). I heard Dr. Len on coasttocoastam.com last year, was very impressed and was delighted when a mutual friend introduced us and he was willing to come down to Palo Alto for a show.
Len founded the Health Medicine Forum in 1994 and subsequently founded the Health Medicine Center in Walnut Ck CA, one of the first clinics to bring the new model of integral-health medicine into practice. In addition to A Return to Healing, he is coauthor of Boosting Immunity and editor of six other books. Len and his wife Vicki produce a weekly radio show "Prescriptions for Health" Fri 9-11am on KEST 1450 AM.

From my show notes: Len's 4 principles of 'health medicine': integrated, holistic, person-centered, preventative. Conventional medicine focuses almost entirely on managing symptoms. New style of medicine needed: CAM (complementary and alternative medicine). The Orthomolecular premise: if all body cells were functioning perfectly, one would not be sick! The 4 factors of cellular health: nutrition, detox, genetic defects, psychospiritual factors. The 4 paths to cyto-pathology: genetics, toxins, nutritional deficiency, stress.

Reasons why a new approach is needed: US last place in preventable death among industrialized nations; cost of health care now causing a bankruptcy every 30 secs; premiums grown 4x faster than wages in last 8 yrs; 50% of all Amer. bankruptcy due to medical bills; obesity up to 33%/population now and #2 cause of preventable death; multiple chemical sensitivity now 30%/population; cancer up 85% since 1950, now 50%/population; "war on cancer" a failure: still #2 cause of death.

Len does a great job laying out the economic argument for universal health care. He supports 'healing circles'. He offers a 5-point plan for making America healthier:
1. Fund programs to make exercise universally available and attractive.
2. Tax junk food, subsidize sustainable farming and healthy foods.
3. Fund comparative assessment research for 'alternative' treatment regimes and require disclosure of all treatments supported by scientific evidence.
4. Provide broad support for preventive screenings.
5. Ban DTC (direct to consumer) drug ads, advertise healthy lifestyle.

I found Len personally charming and his book compelling, and hopeful. Check it out!
Great Albert Schweitzer quote: "It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you... We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within."