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DEVOTEE
Miten
October A Issue
CONTENTS • OMTIMES
Table of Contents
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MITEN The Heart of the Devotee By Sandra Sedgbeer
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Treating Allergies with Acupuncture and Herbs By Andrew Pacholyk, MS L.Ac
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Dispelling the Diagnosis
54
Healing Emotions and Teeth Grinding with Yoga
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By Gayle Madeleine Randall, MD
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By Stefanie Arend
Jennifer Taps Her Way Into My Heart By John Holland
October 2019 B EDITION
O M T I M E S
M A G A Z I N E
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C O N T E N T S OCTOBER / EDITION B
6 4
What It’s Really For
6 4
Do Insects Have Spiritual Consciousness?
7 4
Feng Shui and Politics 1 0 2
7 8
9 2
Roots and Antennas-What Brazil Can Teach the World The Burden of Suffering :Everyone Suffers
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What's Inside?
CONTENTS • OMTIMES
114
134
98
106
122
98
What to Do When You've Got the Business Blues
122
The Art of Self-Care for Sensitive People
102
Gardening: Final Autumn Murmurs
128
What It’s Really For
106
The Multifaceted Sandra Sedgbeer
134
The Surprising Relevance of Sanskrit for Today
114
Relationships, Shared Trauma and Tough Times
140
Thriving as an Empath
OCTOBER/ EDITION B
OMTIMES MAGAZINE
The Heart of the Devotee INTERVIEW BY SANDRA SEDGBEER
OCTOBER B EDITION
"I thought to myself, this is the music I want to hear when I'm dying."
It's a pretty rare thing for us to devote an entire episode of what he's going on to music. But when we do, you can bet there's nothing ordinary about the music and the musicians that we've chosen to feature. We're going to be talking about the latest album from singer and songwriter, Miten who is celebrated worldwide, not only for his work with musical soulmate and mantra star Deva Premal, but in his own light as a composer, producer and creator of international inspirational albums that regularly top iTunes in the Amazon charts : Miten, We'll come back. It's so good to have you back on.
Miten: Thanks a lot, sandy. I'm happy to be back. I’m happy to be anyway. Right? Sandra Sedgbeer: Ever since the invention of tape decks, music lovers have been curating their own Playlist music, or have played in the background while they're working. But I think it's pretty fair to say that few people, if any, have thought of creating a playlist of music to die too. But your new album devotee is, in a sense, just that. Miten: I have to say to the musicians as we were playing it, and my band, they know me well for that, I had to keep reminding everyone, can you die to this?
Treating Allergies with Acupuncture and Herbs by Andrew Pacholyk MS L.Ac
Why people develop allergies remains a mystery in the medical community. Until we know more about allergies, the best line of defense is to eliminate the offending agents. Sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, sinus congestion, hives, swelling are all symptoms of allergies.
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Allergies can affect almost any area of the body. Substances that irritate the skin, allergic reactions to drugs, detergents, and other chemicals are all culprits. Also, grass, cow products, house dust, pets, wheat, colorants, additives, and preservatives are all possibilities. Dust Mites. The dust mite is an almost-microscopic relative of ticks and spiders. But the living mite is not the problem. It’s the fecal material they expel in their wanderings about our carpets and furniture their primary residences and the bodies of dead mites that cause reactions. Mold. Mold grows wherever it’s dark and humid under your carpet, in the basement. It just doesn’t matter which one you encounter. Inhale any one of them, and if you are allergic, you’ll start sneezing. Hay fever is an allergic condition triggered by inhalant substances (frequently pollens), which leads to sneezing and inflammation of the nose and conjunctiva of the eyes.
Any skin inflammation may be considered Dermatitis. Redness, scaling, and thickening of the skin may occur with dermatitis. Pinpointing the cause of the problem is the first step toward alleviating the symptoms. Eczema is a type of dermatitis that is allergy related. It appears as dry, cracking, crusting and red patches on the skin. Often there are swelling, weeping blisters. The skin can become inflamed and itchy. Many factors can contribute to eczema. Stress is a significant factor. Exposure to cleaning compounds, perfumes, detergents, household chemicals, soaps, food allergies, as well as nutrient deficiencies. Hives are lumps or weal that are very itchy. They can appear suddenly. They can be related to a particular food or as another complication from allergies; stress. Anaphylactic shock. This is the most serious of allergic reactions. It can kill by suffocation, the result of swelling of the larynx and Omtimes.com
DISPELLING THE DIAGNOSIS By Gayle Madeleine Randall, MD
Have you ever felt that a diagnosis has placed a spell on you and placed you in a state of shock or fear? This story, of the beautiful and famous Olivia Hussey, is an example of how a diagnosis can drive an illness further into you.
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In 2017, Olivia came to see me after undergoing intense chemo and radiation therapy for metastatic breast cancer. She had a large estrogen receptor-positive mass near her heart. Like most, she came, her eyes shiny with fear. After telling me her story, with words falling out one after the other, almost without breath, she circled back to her trauma and then to her illness, making me know they were attached. She finally said, “Dr Randall, I just can’t do it anymore. They won’t stop. It’s killing me.” I dispelled her fear by telling her she didn’t have to do it anymore if she didn’t want to and that I loved her and would be there for her. “Let me hold the burden.” She took a deep breath and said: “but it’s still there.” I said, “OK, I understand. We can do everything possible naturally to treat an estrogen receptor-positive tumor and monitor you closely. As long as you continue to improve, we know things are good. You have our support, the
support of your lovely family and God. Your husband David and your lovely daughter India are devoted - you mean everything to them.” I recounted stories about patients who healed from cancer and spoke about healing my mother from cancer at age 72, she died at 98 from old age. “Everyone gets healed, Olivia, and some people get miraculously cured.” We created her program; vegan diet, exercise, prayers, meditation, and an herbal regimen. Recent studies showed a vegan diet for only three months can reverse genes for cancer. So why not for her! We gave her herbs to reduce estrogen in her body using a diet free from high phytoestrogen foods such as soy. She was given many supplements in her program. However, everyone is unique, and each program needs to be individualized. The understanding that all cancers are inflammatory
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Healing Emotions and Teeth Grinding with Yoga Stefanie Arend Be Healthy with Yin Yoga
In our busy world, where physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion are common complaints, yoga has never been more popular or more varied. In a society where many of us are overworked and overwhelmed by the daily stresses of our hyperactive environment – emails that haunt us even after working hours. We have performance pressure in the office and at school, tightly scheduled days for ourselves and our children – more people than ever before look to the ancient practice of yoga for health, happiness, and release of tension. But in many cases,
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mainstream yoga—ashtanga, power, Iyengar, etc.—may not be the best remedy for what ails us. We all experience challenging emotions such as sadness, anger, uncertainty, and anxiety. From a holistic perspective, emotions are neither positive nor negative, even if we are inclined to evaluate them this way. They cannot be permanently suppressed or held under, and they persist until they are accepted. However, especially in Western culture, we tend to categorize these feelings as “bad” and quickly learn to repress them. Our troubles may,
therefore, arise at a deep level but manifest physically at our body’s surface. One of the most common subconscious expressions of worry or anger is the grinding or pressing together of the teeth, especially during sleep. Teeth grinding has a wide range of consequences, from disrupted sleep to tooth and jaw damage. Although the symptoms of teeth grinding can be addressed quickly with a mouth guard, for example, to discover the root causes of our ailments, we must listen carefully to what our body is telling us. By bringing the body, mind, and spirit into harmony, Yin Yoga activates our capacity for selfhealing. It helps us find the serenity for self-reflection that we need to look inwards and interpret the body’s various signals. Yin Yoga’s long, deep stretches, which are held for minutes without any muscular tension, and focus on observing our gentle breathing, create a calm that allows buried memories and emotions to emerge. If we relax and align our bodies and minds, then we can identify what is causing us stress, accept it, process it, and ultimately let it go.
If you see yourself confronted with emotions that you would rather suppress, then please try this little meditation in addition to the Yin Yoga poses below: Sit up straight or lie down. Recall an unpleasant feeling—anger, annoyance, anxiety, sadness, or whatever comes to mind. Name this feeling and welcome it. Meet your emotions and feel them openly without rejecting them. Also, ask yourself why they are there and what they want to show you. Watch how your emotions change the more you watch them mindfully. Perhaps they become less intense and seem a little less threatening. If you accept your feelings, you can also let go of them more easily via the process of accepting them. Dangling (Uttanasana) This exercise stretches the whole rear side of the body and gently presses the stomach organs together at the same time, which has a massaging effect and supports the digestion. It works on all the long fascia chains on the rear side of the body, and the hanging also releases the neck nicely. 1. Stand upright, open the legs Omtimes.com
Do Insects Have Spiritual Consciousness? By Cathedral Of the Soul
Hurt no living thing: Ladybird, nor butterfly, Nor moth with a dusty wing. –Christina Rossetti It is easy for us to perceive the life, feelings, and even thoughts of animals such as dog, cat, horse, and so many others. We have a substantial
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esoteric literature on the subject, and it will come as no surprise to many people that a dog cats and other Mammals also have a conscience, a spirit, just like humans. “Consciousness is the structure of virtues.” –Francis Bacon We have an ongoing relationship with these animals and also a closeness through identification, so much so that we always tend to “humanize” our pets. A dog is an important entity in the family, considered as “ Fur-son” as “ Furperson.” But what about other beings, such as Insects. Are insects aware? Is the ability to perceive the reality and existence of an insect too far from that of a dog? And how about from a human? INSECTS FEEL PAIN We can start this reflection from the scientific point of view. According to science, insects feel pain. They have nerve endings similar to those we humans have,
despite having an exoskeleton. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that they have some kind of sensory perception equivalent to what we call pain. They can learn to defend themselves by moving away from something that causes them discomfort. So, we may also think that they have their own cognitive way and environmental interpretation mechanisms to help them to react to the information they receive and to preserve their lives. Fortunately, the sensory structures of these small creatures are distributed in various parts of their exoskeleton, and they have more efficient pain-blocking mechanisms than humans. Thanks to these apparatuses, a cockroach continues to walk even after having a leg torn off, for example. But it is not because the sensation of pain may not be exactly the same as we feel. But we should not conclude that insects do not feel pain when they are injured. And if they feel pain, it is because they are subject to a
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Feng Shui and Politics by Kartar Diamond
One can wonder how much Feng Shui influences a political career. Back in the early 1990s when I was a new Feng Shui practitioner, I saved an article from a major magazine, which mentioned the “feng shui” of the Oval office. My memory is a bit fuzzy right now, but either
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Clinton or Gore had gotten a reading on the West Wing, and I believe it was handled by a very well-known feng shui consultant based in New York, Pun Yin. Around the same time, she began advising Trump, and he was quoted in several articles about how he takes Feng Shui seriously since he works with so many Asians with real estate projects. The article about Clinton and Gore wasn’t a serious expose on the art and science of Feng Shui. Rather, I recall that it was more about glamorizing the relatively young ages of the new President and VicePresident and how hip they were. (Compare that to precampaign season 2020 with most of the front runners being elderly folks.) Certainly, some of Obama’s luster was in his relative youth. The concept of Feng Shui has worked its way into the western culture over the last few decades, and now people casually use the term feng
shui, most appropriately, if not ironically. I was watching a Netflix comedy Special recently with actor/comedian Colin Quinn remarking that having armed guards at all our U.S. Schools (as a solution to mass shootings) “didn’t sound like good feng shui.” And he would be right on that count. Throughout history, the average Joe did not have such easy access to feng shui information, which is why a lot of myths and superstitions came into being. When you hear about something thirdhand or taken out of context, misconceptions can’t help but be generated. It’s like the game that kids used to play called “telephone.” By the time a phrase had been repeated and passed long 30 times, it changed significantly. Early on, the kings, emperors and wealthy class had access to a feng shui master, but not simple peasants. At least this is the folklore that gets passed down, much like the
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Roots and Antennas What Brazil Can Teach the World About Art and Culture
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW CELSO DE CARVALHO
Celso de Carvalho is a Brazilian
Professor, Scholar, and Cultural Activist. His solid professional experience encompasses an eclectic background. Experienced in dealing with multinational companies such as Shell Company-Brazil (10 years), Brazil Telecom/Oi Telecommunications), and wide-ranging of work on the advertising field, product development, media and broadcasting including various show business companies.
Celso is the General Director of the International Accordion Festival, Curator and Executive Producer of the the Umbuzada Sonora Festival and is always involved with music production initiatives. OMTimes| October B Edition
EXCLUSIVE
l i z a r B ART & CULTURE
OMTIMES: “In 2003, the Brazilian government created an initiative called Points of Culture: thousands of community and arts projects of all sizes and types that would work to strengthen people's involvement in the life of their neighborhoods and the larger society…
The idea came from the legendary musician Gilberto Gil…The very act of having artists in the center of government sent a signal of serious intent. Throughout his ministry poets, playwrights and philosophers working in the executive, bringing a new language of aspiration and inventiveness to that of government.” (The Guardian, UK.) How do you evaluate this program and its impact on the Brazilian culture 16 years after implementation?
OMTimes| October B Edition
The Burden of Suffering Everyone Suffers By William Arntz
So, that’s me (except I’m more the Willie Nelson look), sitting in my mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a cold martini shaker on the table, moping about my suffering. “What?” you ask. “How could you be suffering? You’re rich!”
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To which I can only reply, “It doesn’t look like it from the bleachers, but believe me, the rich share your burden.” Maybe not the burden of worrying about money and trying to pay for your kid’s education, but what I share with you and everyone else on this planet is: The Burden of Suffering. Everyone suffers. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining – at least not right now. I’ve had a great life. You could say I’ve lived the American Dream. Upon graduating summa cum something from Penn State, I worked as a Research Physicist in high-energy laser systems (later known as Star Wars) and retired two years later after creating the first wave optics simulator for high really high energy lasers. I drove around the country, hippy style, for a few years, got bored and did a film project with a friend. Then I got into spirituality. As part of a spiritual task assigned by my teacher Rama (aka Dr. Frederick Lenz), I created
a software product called AutoSys and built a company around it which I sold for a small fortune to Platinum Technologies. (Keyword there being small.) AutoSys went on to be Platinum’s #1 product for 16 consecutive quarters, propelling the company from a $100M/year enterprise to a $3.6 billion acquisition when Computer Associates bought it a four years later. Yes, I sold the goose that laid the golden egg. (I am still suffering over that one.) But not that much. I mean, I was 45 and had just bought my first house with cash and settled into the successful entrepreneur lifestyle. So what? Living the American Dream of success is one thing, waking up from The Dream is another. And in those expansive days of chewing over my successes, it began to dawn on me, that nothing had really changed. I didn’t have customers to bother me; I had barking dogs next door, contractors who didn’t show
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What to Do When You’ve Got the Business Blues by Nanette Giacoma
Do you ever feel lackluster, like your business or career is going nowhere? I know the feeling! They talk about the winter blues, but I’ve definitely come down with a case of the summer business blues.
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The business blues are often the result of feeling like you, or your business is stuck, and furthermore, you don’t know how to get unstuck. It’s a sign that something needs to shift within yourself, your professional life, or your business. For me, I’ve definitely been feeling stuck in my business. I’ve been doing the things that should create more growth, like working to increase my email list, posting on social media, networking, joining boards, speaking, writing articles, publishing a book, etc., etc. And yet, my profitability has to increase from these efforts. Of course, that doesn’t mean it won’t make a difference in the long run. Still, I am frustrated. My emotions range from anger to sadness, to apathy, to outrage! There are times, I just feel like giving up. I know many of you been there, or perhaps you are there now. Feelings are connected with the energy of the second (sacral) chakra and the element, water. So, when your emotions
energetically flow, you are more likely to be able to move ahead and create change. The lack of flow can cause an energetic shutdown, and keep you stuck where you are. Anger, sadness, and outrage, when released responsibly, can be a great way to energetically get things moving. However, when these feelings are turned inward, they may become apathy or depression, creating an energetic shutdown... resulting in the business blues. Ummm! Guess what I’ve been doing? Yep! Turning all those feelings inward, causing an energetic constriction. Not allowing my negative emotions to energetically flow has contributed to the lack of growth in my business. Your chakra energy, or lack thereof, moves out into your professional life and business. Often this creates more of the same, since like attracts like energy. Unprocessed anger can attract angry people into your business. Apathy may draw apathetic clients, and so on. Unprocessed negative emotions, Omtimes.com
Relationships Shared Trauma and Tough Times By Mark D. Diehl
Shared trauma and tough times can hold couples together more strongly than religion, nationality, culture...
a mutual longtime friend, or possibly you and your partner are both marginalized by the culture in which you live.
If you plan on being in a longterm relationship, you’re going to go through tough times -really tough times -- with your partner. Every couple does. Life and aging bring challenges we’re never adequately prepared to face: job losses, difficult illnesses, financial woes. Sometimes, you may even experience trauma together: perhaps the death of
Even though these facts of life are incredibly painful, maybe there is also a silver lining:
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When you get to the other side, you will find that your bond has become even stronger. This was what my wife, Jennifer, and I experienced when we met and fell in love in Taegu,
South Korea. We are from opposite sides of the globe -Jennifer is from Taegu, while I am from Iowa City, Iowa. I grew up wild, running around my small American town without much parental oversight at all. Jennifer’s entire life had been mapped out and watched over by her parents to ensure that she would one day marry “well,” thus enhancing her family’s respected social status. When we met in 1993, we were both teaching English in Taegu. I was a 23-year-old college graduate with no money, looking for business opportunities that might arise as the Korean economy grew. Jennifer was 22, still living with her influential and controlling local family, and when we met, I was initially put off by her obvious wealth and social status. Her parents were allowing her to teach English only to build her “wedding resume.” We shared almost nothing in common -- or so it seemed. We did not share a religion, nationality, or culture. We had no mutual points of influence, such as going to college or grad school together or being long-
term colleagues, all of which can also help cement long-term bonds. Yet Jennifer and I had a different type of shared formative experience -- one that transcends religion, language, college or the workplace to shape our respective psyches at a level that was just as deep, if not more so. In our particular case, this experience was that of separate and different, though equally neglectful and damaging, childhoods. I write about this in my memoir Stealing Cinderella: How I Became an International Fugitive for Love. Both Jennifer and I had experienced painful abandonment by our families and the sting of our parents’ arbitrary, bewildering, and often violent behavior toward us. My earliest memories include feeling unwelcome at my father’s house and completely random scenes of screaming and violence with my mother. I grew up angry, distrustful, and ready to fight. By the time I graduated from college and met Jennifer, I was nothing but chaos and explosive energy. There was no way I was Omtimes.com
Thriving as an Empath: The Art of Self-Care for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff, MD
Self-care is essential for all empathic people. When you mindfully and lovingly practice it each day, your sensitivities will flourish. The self-care practices, perspectives, and meditations I present as daily offerings in Thriving as an Empath
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will support you in being a compassionate, empowered empath without shouldering the suffering of others or trying to “fix” them. All people deserve the dignity of their own paths. Day-by-day, I’ll offer gentle reminders about how you can be loving without becoming codependent or a martyr. As a psychiatrist and empath, I am fierce about my own selfcare practices and teach these principles to my patients. I feel so strongly about them because I want to keep enjoying the extraordinary gifts of sensitivity--including an open heart, intuition, and an intimate connection with spirituality and the natural world. Shallow emotional waters don’t appeal to me. I love going deep--and my sensitivities take me there. Still, a big challenge for all sensitive people is how to be compassionate without absorbing the stress of others and the world. We don’t have the same filters as most people. We are emotional sponges who feel everything and instinctively take it in.
This differs from “ordinary” empathy, where your heart goes out to others in pain or happiness, but you don’t take on their feelings. We empaths are helpers, lovers, and caretakers who often give too much at the expense of our own wellbeing. Research suggests that our mirror neuron system (a part of the brain responsible for compassion) is hyperactive, which can burn us out. This is not how I choose to live. I want to be loving, but over-helping or absorbing someone’s distress just put me on sensory overload which is painful to my sensitive body and soul. It also doesn’t serve the other person in any lasting way. To stay healthy and happy, you must be prepared with effective self-care practice so that you’re ready to deal with stress. Throughout the book, you’ll learn to keep yourself balanced and whole by trusting your intuition, setting boundaries, and protecting your energy. The secret to an empath’s well-being is to break the Omtimes.com
What It’s Really For I was stunned to see the long line of customers waiting in front of the rental car desk. As I counted 50 people and just a few agents to service them, I realized I would be here for at least an hour. Never again will I rent from this company.
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As I chatted with Tom, a fellow in line behind me, I remembered I had a membership to the rental company’s express club. “If I go to the express desk on the lower level, maybe they’ll expedite my rental,” I thought out loud. Tom told me, “Go ahead—I’ll hold your place.” Wow, how thoughtful! I told him thanks, and if I didn’t return, I would save a seat for him in heaven. When I found the express desk also glutted, I returned to the regular line where my new friend let me back in as he had promised. As the line slowly advanced, Tom and I got to know each other, laughing and telling stories. The frustration of being in the long queue dissipated and the time went more quickly. When I finally reached the front of the line, I told Tom to go ahead of me. We shook hands warmly and wished each other well. A Course in Miracles asks us to remember, “I do
not know what anything is for.” It explains that rewarding relationships provide the express route to healing. While I believed my purpose in that line was to get a rental car, my more meaningful opportunity was to connect with another human being and help each other through a difficult situation. We gave each other a miracle. Jewish theologian Martin Buber said, “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” The ego’s destinations are always material. The spirit’s destinations run deeper. We believe we are here to get somewhere physically, while we are really here to get somewhere spiritually. Never accept an experience, especially a challenging one, at face value. There is always more going on than meets the eye, a doorway to a blessing. My friend Nadine had been
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The Surprising Relevance of Sanskrit for Today Excuse Me‌ Did you Say Sanskrit? By Sarah Mane
I was recently on a longhaul flight from Sydney to Vancouver. In the row in front was a young mother with two little boys. The flight attendant announced that no one was to use peanuts as these boys had
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a severe peanut allergy. All through the flight, this mother provided her children with carefully pre-prepared food. Making sure the boys were occupied, answering their questions, resting when she could. It was very impressive. But what has this got to do with Sanskrit? I’ll get to that. First, what is Sanskrit? It is an ancient language, some would say timeless. It is described as the language of the Universe, and a Mother of Languages. These are grand claims to be sure, so let’s look at Sanskrit on two levels. First, Sanskrit is a spoken language with grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, and so on. As a Mother of Languages, Sanskrit is an etymological matriarch in the vast Indo-European family of languages, which includes Latin and Ancient Greek and the Germanic, Indian and Romance families of languages. English, of course, is an Indo-European language.
To get an insight into the care of that young mother taking her boys home to Canada, let’s look at the power of ‘matri,’ the Sanskrit word for ‘mother.’ Our English ‘mother’ is cognate with matri, so, when we’re speaking English every day, we’re connected with Sanskrit meanings whether we’re aware of it or not. The second, deeper level of Sanskrit is as the language of the Universe. But how is this so? And how did that universal language affect a young family on a transPacific flight? The word ‘Sanskrita’ means ‘purified and perfectly formed.’ When we are quiet, open and receptive, without mental distractions, we hear a still small voice within. That voice is always pure and perfectly formed— it is sanskrita. In that quiet state we just ‘know’ the truth of that voice. This communication occurs in our heart. This perfectly formed language then needs
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