Archive for Health Issues
Logical Soul Talk: How I Became the Massage Therapist for the Atlanta Falcons & Hawks
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Don Myers, circa 1980
Don Myers is a massage therapist for the Atlanta Falcons and Hawks. He will share stories with Michael Craig about his motivation, opportunities, rewards and challenges of doing this special job tonight (February 16) at 6 pm on Logical Soul Talk.
Don was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and enlisted in the Navy where he became a surgical technician. In 1990 he completed massage therapy license in the state of Ohio.
In 1992 Don moved to Atlanta to continue his education in sports massage therapy, and the next year opened his practice called Body Mechanics Sports Massage Therapy where he could practice his unique blend of body therapy techniques.
In 1994 Don and his business partners were appointed to organize the massage therapy effort for the Atlanta Olympics and Paralympics, and later in that decade became and invaluable part of the health and well-being for the Falcons and Hawks.
Join Michael’s guest tonight at 6 pm online, or call (347) 843-4544 to ask Don a question or give a comment. Don’t miss this opportunity to get the “inside dope” on some real behind-the-scenes stuff!
CPR Update Video – Save a Life Fast!
Posted by: | CommentsFor all my criticism of medical failings, there is one area in which medical doctors excel:Â Â EMERGENCIES. These professionals are very adept at saving lives when death is imminent, and I would trust their advice on this completely, especially when it comes to heart attacks.
My friend Steve just forwarded to me an important email:
“This was sent to me by a physician’s assistant and she asked that we forward it to the people we know so that a life may be saved. Please take the time to view this video on the new, easier method to save someone’s life.”
A MUST SEE, NEW CPR METHOD FROM THE MAYO CLINIC.
NO MOUTH TO MOUTH- AND WORKS BETTER.
ANYONE CAN DO THIS AFTER SEEING IT ONCE!
Please view the video, then refer others to this post.
You may save someone’s life!
Moral Hazard: Economic and Personal
Posted by: | Comments“Moral Hazard” is a term coined by banks and insurance companies to determine the economic risk they face when they lend or insure a property for more than the property is worth. This is a risk because there is NO incentive, then, for the owner to take care of – or finish paying for – the property. It is a type of delusion that can only lead to failure and loss.
Moral hazard applies mostly to economics – more specifically to large ticket consumer items like real estate and cars. Its intrusion can eventually lead to bankruptcy of a nation or economy.
This type of hazard also has parallels in other fields and can manifest itself in multiple ways related to the “Theory of Unintended Consequences.”  This theory says, in essence, that while we may set out to do something helpful and constructive, we often end up creating the opposite results to what we intended. Here are some examples:
Relationships: One person might consider themselves “compassionate” when, in fact, they are an “enabler” that allows his or her partner to get away with proverbial murder. The other partner has less and less incentive to contribute to the relationship, and it eventually falls apart.
Health: Moral hazard in health arises when you do a few “healthy” things to feel good, like drinking diet colas and eating yogurt. These deeds give you the illusion of adding to good health when, in fact, they are only hiding your hidden decision to stay addicted to whatever you’re addicted to. As long as you continue to push the other stuff like smoking, no exercise, overeating fast foods, or doing drugs, you will eventually be pushing up daisys!
Personal Growth: Personal growth only takes place when there is a dynamic present that spurs you to make a decision. If you have lived a life of poverty, personal growth takes place when you resolve to escape it. If you suffer ill health or loss, personal growth comes about as a result of drastic measures on your part to improve your condition. The “moral hazard” comes in when others take this away from you, or soften the blow to the point where there is little or no incentive to take action.
Government appears to be the greatest enabler of our generation, and The Theory of Unintended Consequences was probably conceived with government in mind. Check out this video . . .
Logical Soul: Real “Hands Off” Healing
Posted by: | CommentsMy wife, Brigitte, returned recently from a visit to a chiropractic friend of mine whose work I admire greatly. She told me he was using some of the Logical Soul(tm) concepts in conjunction with his other modalities, and said that he helped her greatly. I tested her and, sure enough, the changes she reported appeared to be holding.
The next day, Brigitte reported feeling strange, so I tested her again. Suddenly, the same statements that tested strong the day before were now testing weak.
I then asked her to describe the session in more detail. She reported that he tested statements – similarly to the way I teach – and “did some points and prayed” so that the changes could stay anchored. The changes, however, were not anchored, and I realized why.
In my work and courses I teach, there are Four Phases of the Logical Soul ™ process. The last two phases involve what I call Access to hidden decisions using “personal archetypes,” and Resolution where the changes are anchored into the body and nervous system.
While all phases were followed in sequence, my chiropractic friend apparently threw in his own version of what “access” and “resolution” meant without determining that from his patient, my wife. By “praying” for her, instead of asking and allowing my wife to bring in her own archetypal images or prayers, he effectively short-circuited the whole process.
While there was no harm done in this instance (the first rule of Hippocrates), my wife knew what was supposed to happen. Her reports was based on her long experience with my work; otherwise this doctor’s lack of using the Logical Soul ™ “protocol” would never have been discovered.
By the way, this is not meant to criticize my friends intentions or his dedication to healing, which I hold in high regard. I only point out that he, and many healers, often forget something fundamentally important to the healing process . . .
The principle of non-interference.
D.D. Palmer
How often do doctors trust lab tests and examinations more than they do the word of their patients? It seems to be the rule, rather than the exception.
In too many instances doctors presume to “know” what is best for their patients without even asking them! While I can understand this attitude in medical doctors (because their learned paradigm is based on “fixing” people), it is harder to understand why doctors of “natural methods” simply forget this important principle of non-interference!
Even chiropractors, the ones whose original philosophy strongly embraces this principle, often assert their own preference first. In failing to listen to the patient’s conscious or subconscious needs, the internal healing force cannot do its work. D.D. Palmer, the founder of Chiropractic in 1895, called this healing force “Innate,” and declared there is no other force stronger or more intelligent for human health and happiness . . . when given a chance to express itself fully.
The phrase “Nature needs no help, just no interference” also applies to the practice of the Logical Soul(tm).
Health Care Paradigm: The Body Heals Itself
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The Body Miracle
“The body heals itself.”
Unlike my MD brethren who attended medical school, I had the above statement hammered into my brain at chiropractic college in the early 1980’s. I also learned the power of this statement while studying and practicing acupuncture in Sri Lanka in 1987.
This statement comes from the simple truth that, like the formation of stars, the intricate workings of a cell, and the astounding variation of a coral reef, our bodies have an innate intelligence that is adaptive, self-governing, and self-healing.
When burned, the body forms new skin. When a bone is broken, the body lays down even stronger material to heal it. The body will even regulate very complicated functions, and even prioritize them, in order to give us the best chance of survival.
For example, a stable body temperature is maintained by the thyroid (and, to a large extent, the liver) and is the most important for the optimal function of organs and enzymes.  The temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit allows for the most number of enzymes present in the body to function. Below that temperature, roughly half of our body’s enzymes cease to function! Consequently, when the body temperature drops, all sorts of disease symptoms appear because the enzymes are unable to do their jobs.
Another example is how the body maintains blood pH. The term “pH” stands
Acid-Alkaline Chart
for Potential of Hydrogen, which is the concentration of hydrogen ions in any substance or solution. The pH range is measured from zero to 14. Human blood pH is ideally 7.35. Higher numbers indicate alkalinity; lower numbers indicate acidity.
This acid-alkaline balance of your blood is extremely important, and your body goes to enormous lengths to maintain this 7.35 pH level. If your blood pH were to vary only 1 or 2 points in either direction, it would change the electrical chemistry in your body. There would be no electrical “power.” In a very short time, you would die.
(This is the main theory, by the way, of how very fit athletes sometimes drop dead while exercising. While they were no doubt fit, they were not healthy. Because of their diet and other factors, their blood pH dipped below the danger zone and they didn’t have enough alkaline reserve to save them. You can read about this problem, and how you can reduce your own risks, in any of Dr. Young’s books on pH and diet.)
The body can digest and assimilate vastly different foods for maximum energy, but always takes pains to balance the pH of each food intake. since most people’s diets are very acidic, this usually means drawing from our body’s “alakaline reserve” to save our butts!
The problem: this alkaline reserve is usually used up around age 40, so the body – in its infinite wisdom – starts pulling the alkalinity from the calcium in our bones! Yet osteoporosis is considered (in the medical paradigm) as a disease. It is, however, simply the body’s way of saving more important functions (the survival of the heart and brain) at the expense of lesser ones (our bones).
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Even the so-called “abnormal” metabolic reactions by the body are interesting if you look at the subtle logic. Fever is a good example. While many people think fever is part of a sickness, it is a perfectly natural response to foreign intrusion.  Under normal circumstances the body, in its wisdom, will temporarily raise the temperature to kill off foreign bacteria and viruses it deems life-threatening.
Another example of an “abnormal reaction” is swelling after an injury. We usually attack this as if the body is the enemy – doing our best to “bring the welling down before it gets out of hand.” The body, however, is only considering the stupidity of the occupant of the cranial vault . . . it is trying to immobilize the joint or area of trauma, kill off any invading bacteria, and basically stop you from doing any other activity until the dang thing heals!!
While putting ice on the swelling is best for pain and discomfort, I mostly abide by the admonition “Nature needs no help, just no interference.”
Healing Hands
I will be the first to admit, however, that the medical model of disease has served us for well over a century, through wars and epidemics. With the human race poised to live longer and (hopefully) more peacefully, however, a new paradigm is necessary if we wish to achieve optimal health, and not just the avoidance of disease.
In chiropractic school, I learned that a chiropractic adjustment is only useful to ALLOW the body to do its magic . . . and not to MAKE it work. “Dr. Sid” Williams at Life Chiropractic used to say “Find it. Adjust it. Leave it alone.” I used to think he was only full of hot air. Now I know he was right.
We get out of the way. The body takes care of the rest.
Health Care Paradigm: Man vs. Nature
Posted by: | CommentsFor most of the history of mankind, men and women have striven to survive by killing, cutting, plowing, and taming their environment. In the beginning, the world was a very hostile place, and mankind needed every survival skill he had to adapt.
The current, modern world view, i.e., love and cooperation, did not wifely take root until mankind had sufficiently subdued natural forces such that they were no longer an immediate threat. Even so, mankind still rails against nature and makes war on other men. Regardless of the modern-day consequences, we are still trying to “fix” ourselves and the world around us to fit our view of what we consider to be “safe” and “good.”  Â
In the field of health care, for example, there are two opposing paradigms – or world views – that are each vying for attention: medical versus holistic. Each have their advantages and their disadvantages.
Can we win this battle?
The first paradigm we will consider is the Medical Model. This world view was born from the Newtonian-Cartesian idea (from Sir Isaac Newton and Renee Descartes) that each individual is like a “clock” that is, essentially, a machine that operates as a closed system, i.e., the body and its “parts,” or functioning organs.
The Medical Model dictates that, when something goes wrong, we “fix” it. This paradigm attracts some of the best and brightest minds in the world – those who know how to really fix things quickly with skill and determination. This model, therefore, works best for emergencies, i.e., things like broken bones, bullet wounds, sudden poisoning and other first aid crises.
The Medical Model does not, however, work so well (long term) for chronic illnesses or emotion-based disorders, i.e., cancer, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and anxiety-related disorders. Doctors are still taught to treat all disease as an invader, and to make war on the bugs, viruses, bad cells, and other soldiers of this “invading army.”
But all war has casualties . . . AND very expensive!
If an organ malfunctions and we can’t fix it, we operate to remove it. If cancer is detected we either cut it out, poison the body with chemo toxins, or blast the body with deadly radiation. Once that’s done, the doctor will continue to observe the presence of the “enemy” cancer cells in the patient, and try to kill them over and over again, whenever they appear.
If the patient doesn’t die in 5 years after all this destruction, he or she is considered “cured.”
With other chronic diseases, such as arthritis, medical doctors can only teach people how to “cope” with the symptoms, while “research” looks for more efficient ways to “tell the body how to stop fighting itself.”
The problem is, disease may be a product of faulty internal wiring more than an “army” of invaders . . . but we’ll cover that alternate paradigm in my next installment.
The other problem is that there is no incentive to find a valid cure, even if it could be found using this paradigm. The “research” will continue as long as it remains funded, and alternative approaches are never considered – regardless of clinical effectiveness – so long as they don’t fit the medical paradigm.
Is this the fault of the medical doctors? No. They are overworked, and only doing what they learned the best they can.
When presented with these types of a illnesses, most medical doctors are instructed to follow “the protocol” for each specific disease, mostly to avoid any claims that they didn’t “do their best.” Even if they know this protocol will eventually lead to the patient’s death, they must follow the “rules” or risk a malpractice suit and/or loss of their license!
Robert Mendelssohn, MD, laid out this dilemma and more in his ground-
breaking book Confessions of a Medical Heretic, first published in 1978. In the book, he blasts his associates for “benign neglect” and called for doctors to reconsider and change their current paradigm for the benefit of the patients, themselves, and the world at large.
Dr. Mendelssohn has since passed on, but his banner has been taken up by others, and change seems to be coming slowly but surely to the increasingly-outdated Medical Model.
The SECOND health care paradigm is the Holistic Model. I’ll cover that in the next installment.
Self-Sabotage and Anxiety
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Anxiety Self-Sabotage
Self-sabotage manifests itself in different ways. One of those ways is through general anxiety and panic attacks. Symptoms are many and varied:
Ever feel frustrated and overwhelmed to the point of losing your breath? Ever have a feeling like the world is crashing in around you and there’s nothing you can do? Do these symptoms carry over into your business, work and relationships, causing things to blow up or fall apart?
You’re not alone.
Sudden anxiety – and the so-called panic attacks – are based on organic decisions that boil down to (believe it or not) our instinct to survive. Fears like fear of falling and of loud noises came about, in part, because they were related to causes of death, pain and suffering on the part of our ancestors. Fears like these were encoded into our DNA, and are hard to shake. Professor Walter B. Cannon in the 1920’s referred to this as the “fight or flight” syndrome – a tendency to either run away or fight when faced with danger.
While the hard-wired fear of falling and loud noises may be there, our conscious minds play a part in that we create stories and make up stuff that may or may not be true – but are related, in part, to our hard-wired fears. We may be about to lose our jobs or marriage, for example, and this feels like falling. Although there is no immediate danger, our survival instinct kicks in as if there were.
No matter how rational we might want to be, our subconscious memories continue to touch the live-wires called our DNA, nervous system, and endocrine system. Once triggered, our body reacts as in a real emergency and shuts down all but the most essential survival functions. If this happens enough, we become “stuck” in this pattern and our organs, systems – and our potential for happiness – burn out quickly.
Anxiety can be channeled, however, by using a few simple steps. Through conscious awareness, energies that surge through the body that cause the heart to race and palms to get sweaty can also create the opposite effect. Techniques like meditation, Logical Soul(tm), and Panic Away can stop the panic and bring calmness and peace back to the body and mind.
Anxiety can effectively destroy any or all aspects of your life and happiness. Take care of rampant “fight or flight” reactions, and your full potential for life and happiness return.
Mind Detox with Logical Soul
Posted by: | CommentsJason Oman on Michael Craig’s Logical Soul Talk
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Jason and Michael
Jason Oman, co-author of the book Conversations with Millionaires, has just come through a major health crisis and is working on yet another book – Conversations with Female Millionaires. He will discuss both projects in an interview with Michael Craig on Logical Soul Talk tonight at 6 pm.
You can listen online with your headset or call (347) 843-4544 to listen on the phone and/or ask a question or support Jason.
Mr. Oman is a success story in just being alive and on this show. A brain aneurysm in October of 2007 knocked down, both literally and business-wise. Through the help of Emory Hospital, Internet associates, loving friends, and an indomitable spirit, however, he is back and more determined than ever.
Listen in tonight at 6 to hear Jason’s story: how to succeed when you lose everything.  It is one for the ages.
Detox Your Mind Naturally: Begin Where You Are
Posted by: | CommentsThe Logical Soul(tm) is a method whereby the mind can detox naturally by addressing both the conscious and subconscious yearnings for happiness. This happiness can take two forms: restful and active. similar to meditation, the Logical Soul(tm) technique allows the mind to go to a place of resolution where it finds the greatest happiness, both inside and out.
Sometimes this resolution will be restful, and sometimes active, depending on the need of the person at the time. I learned over the years that there is a way to harness the power of what Maharishi called “the inward and outward strokes” to where it can have a faster and more direct effect on the mind and body than merely waiting for those effects to surface through years of meditation.
Group Meditation
I used to teach meditation (Transcendental Meditation, or TM) back in the 70’s. One of the biggest complaints I would hear from people at the time was “I can’t meditate; my mind is too busy.”
In fact, I still hear this from my wife whenever I suggest sitting and closing our eyes. She practiced a different “meditation” – what I call the “Hoopin and Hollerin” a.k.a. Dynamic Meditation. Followers of OSHO – a.k.a. Sri Rajneesh – learned this in India and on “the Ranch” in Oregon in the 70’s and 80’s as a sort of cathartic release method that ended with silent eyes-closed meditation.
Although I’ve tried Dynamic, I much prefer doing a few Asanas or yogic postures, then sitting comfortably with eyes-closed. It more adequately addresses my need to be lazy. I start from where I am (lazy) and go within rather effortlessly. My mind will detox naturally, beginning from a relaxed state.
active meditation
The key here is: start where you are. If you are the very active type (like my wife Brigitte), you are usually in a state of motion. Therefore it is only logical that you start there. Personally, I find this approach taxing to my system, so I seldom do it. My “active meditation” is to do Logical Soul(tm) sessions and ride my unicycle.
Different strokes . . .
