wakingtimes--2020-02-04--Beyond Curcumin: Why Turmeric Is Not the Same as Curcumin

Turmeric is a hot topic here at GreenMedInfo.com .
For example , you can read about how Science Confirms Turmeric As Effective As 14 Drugs , 600 Reasons Turmeric May Be the World ’ s Most Important Herb and even How WHOLE Turmeric Heals the Damaged Brain .
Yet , here ’ s what most people — even health and nutrition enthusiasts — often don ’ t realize .
Despite the two often being referred to interchangeably , turmeric is actually far different than the popular supplement ingredient curcumin .
Sure , curcumin is derived from turmeric , but when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and bioavailability , the differences between turmeric and curcumin are quite significant , and in this article you ’ ll discover exactly why , and why you may want to think beyond curcumin when it comes to using turmeric in your diet .
Turmeric is just a root , and technically the root of Curcuma longa , which is a flowering plant of the ginger family .
It contains many bioactive plant substances , but one particular group , the curcuminoids , are often touted as possessing the biggest health-promoting bang-for-your-buck .
These @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you guessed it — curcumin .
But curcumin is only present at about 2 % to 8 % concentration in the average turmeric preparation .
[ i ] Curcumin is well-known for its anti-inflammatory , anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant effects , but if curcumin is all that you ’ re relying on for the benefits of curcumin , you ’ re technically missing out on 92 % to 98 % of the other plant bioactive compounds in the whole turmeric root .
Don ’ t feel bad about being on the curcumin bandwagon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ studied curcuminoid and is also the most abundant curcuminoid found in turmeric .
But there ’ s a problem .
Despite its wide array of potential benefits , the actual bioavailability of curcumin in humans and animals is quite low .
Curcumin also has a high rate of metabolization and rapid systemic clearance .
So getting enough curcumin into your system to reach blood levels sufficient to exert the benefits shown in research requires consuming around 3 to 5 teaspoons of turmeric powder a day .
And that ’ s a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risk of having a constantly yellowish-orange stained mouth .
Even then , curcumin is so poorly absorbed that it often needs to be combined with something that can increase its bioavailability .
One quite popular example of this is an extract found in black pepper .
On many supplement labels , you ’ ll see listed a patented extract obtained from black pepper fruits called BioPerine , which is commonly used as a curcumin bioavailability enhancer .
Another strategy to increase the bioavailability of curcumin is via the use of phytosomes , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phosphatidylcholine .
Once attached to phosphatidylcholine , there is much higher absorption of curcumin ( up to 30 times more bioavailability ) .
Finally , we get to the biggest problem with curcumin : if you ’ re relying on it as your only source to obtain the benefits of turmeric , then you ’ re missing out on other components of this impressive root .
I don ’ t quite understand why we seem to myopically focus on curcumin in the health , nutrition and supplement industry .
After all , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ayurvedic medicine for over 4,000 years , and during most of this time there was no fancy technology such as a patented Bioperine extract or phosphatidylcholine molecules in supplement form to increase bioavailability of the curcumin , nor was there technology to extract appreciable amounts of curcumin from the turmeric .
Instead , turmeric ’ s long history of culinary , medicinal and cosmetic use in India includes water-based preparations for internal use ( known as Kashaya ) , fat-based ( oil , ghee ) preparations for internal use ( known as Sneha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use ( known as Churna ) .
Consider this anecdote from the book “ Herbal Medicine : Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects ” : You can read more about turmeric ’ s journey from traditional to modern medicine in “ Herbal Medicine : Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects ” .
[ ii ] If these ancient healers have been harnessing the power of turmeric via fresh juice , teas , tinctures and powders , as well as using it topically in the form of creams , lotions , pastes and ointments , then why has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recently been centered around the curcuminoids — which , as mentioned , are a fraction of 2 % to 8 % of the plant ?
These traditional healing and food practices related to the use of turmeric indicate that it ’ s not just the curcuminoid component of turmeric that is likely to possess physiological benefits .
Enter turmerosaccharides .
Turmerosaccharides are water-soluble bioactive polysaccharides extracted from that remaining 90+ % percent of the turmeric root .
The fact that turmerosaccharides are water-soluble means that all of the good stuff is more easily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and metabolized more quickly than the curcumin-based fat-soluble components of turmeric .
The first property of turmerosaccharides that makes them more desirable is the fact that they are naturally water-soluble .
Through a steam extraction process , turmerosaccharides are isolated from the turmeric oil , without the need for using any harsh solvents .
This means the bioavailability of turmerosaccharides is significantly higher than that of curcumin .
In addition , the effects of tumerosaccharides on your body are astounding , especially if you ’ re active or suffer from soreness from overexertion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reduced joint tenderness , crepitation , swelling and effusion related to overuse , while increasing joint function and flexibility .
[ iii ] Patients with primary knee osteoarthritis received either turmerosaccharides , glucosamine sulfate , a combination of turmerosaccharides and glucosamine sulfate , or a placebo for 42 days .
The efficacy of the different treatments was assessed during the treatment period , on both day 21 and day 42 of the study .
The analysis of post-treatment scores following the administration of turmerosaccharides at each clinical visit showed a significant decrease in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The turmerosaccharides-treated group also showed a significant decrease in the use of their standard medication , along with clinical and subjective improvement compared to placebo .
Another study investigated turmerosaccharides ’ effect on human knee cartilage and found that it protects cartilage homeostasis , [ iv ] which means that it balances out the natural rate of synthesis and degradation , keeping joints happily balanced .
Interleukin 1 beta ( a natural protein involved with inflammation ) and hydrogen peroxide ( which is generally toxic to cells ) are both bad news bears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cells .
This study looked at the effects of turmerosaccharides by exposing these chondrocytes to these toxins with and without turmerosaccharides , then measuring markers indicating cell degradation , aging and death , as well as cartilage creation , degradation and general inflammation .
The presence of turmerosaccharides decreased cartilage cell destruction and general inflammation in the knee cartilage cells , and also protected compounds that improve cartilage creation , such as glycosaminoglycans and type II collagen .
In other studies , turmerosaccharides were shown to significantly reduce acute and chronic inflammation and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] as well as increase gene expression of type II collagen .
[ vi ] Where Can You Find Turmerosaccharides ?
So by now , you ’ re probably wondering where you can actually get turmerosaccharides .
One easy option would be to find high-quality turmeric root grown in clean soil , and then boil it in water , preferably via a decoction method , which involves a long simmering process in hot water , and can work quite well for a variety of hard , woody herbs and spices , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ option is to look for nutritional supplements that contain Turmacin® — which is a water-soluble extract of turmeric that contains high amounts of turmerosaccharides .
And there ’ s absolutely no reason that you can ’ t co-consume turmerosaccharides along with curcumin to get even more benefits out of the wonderful turmeric root .
For more on turmeric , curcumin and other ancestral and modern scientific ways to enhance recovery and decrease inflammation , you can read Chapter 14 of my new book “ Boundless ” , which tackles more on healing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and hard workouts .
Ben Greenfield is a human performance consultant , speaker and New York Times bestselling author of 13 books , including the wildly popular titles “ Beyond Training ” and “ Boundless “ .
© [ 01/28/20 ] GreenMedInfo LLC .
This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC .
Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo ?
Sign up for the newsletter here //www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter .

Beyond Curcumin: Why Turmeric Is Not the Same as Curcumin
Ben Greenfield, GreenMedinfo
Waking Times
Turmeric is a hot topic here at GreenMedInfo.com. For example, you can read about how Science Confirms Turmeric As Effective As 14 Drugs, 600 Reasons Turmeric May Be the World’s Most Important Herb and even How WHOLE Turmeric Heals the Damaged Brain.
Yet, here’s what most people — even health and nutrition enthusiasts — often don’t realize. Despite the two often being referred to interchangeably, turmeric is actually far different than the popular supplement ingredient curcumin.
Sure, curcumin is derived from turmeric, but when it comes to their uses, benefits and bioavailability, the differences between turmeric and curcumin are quite significant, and in this article you’ll discover exactly why, and why you may want to think beyond curcumin when it comes to using turmeric in your diet.
Turmeric Versus Curcumin
Turmeric is just a root, and technically the root of Curcuma longa, which is a flowering plant of the ginger family. It contains many bioactive plant substances, but one particular group, the curcuminoids, are often touted as possessing the biggest health-promoting bang-for-your-buck. These curcuminoids include demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin and — you guessed it — curcumin.
But curcumin is only present at about 2% to 8% concentration in the average turmeric preparation.[i] Curcumin is well-known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant effects, but if curcumin is all that you’re relying on for the benefits of curcumin, you’re technically missing out on 92% to 98% of the other plant bioactive compounds in the whole turmeric root.
Don’t feel bad about being on the curcumin bandwagon. After all, curcumin is the most studied curcuminoid and is also the most abundant curcuminoid found in turmeric.
The Problem With Curcumin
But there’s a problem. Despite its wide array of potential benefits, the actual bioavailability of curcumin in humans and animals is quite low. Curcumin also has a high rate of metabolization and rapid systemic clearance.
So getting enough curcumin into your system to reach blood levels sufficient to exert the benefits shown in research requires consuming around 3 to 5 teaspoons of turmeric powder a day. And that’s a lot of turmeric, along with posing a high risk of having a constantly yellowish-orange stained mouth.
Even then, curcumin is so poorly absorbed that it often needs to be combined with something that can increase its bioavailability. One quite popular example of this is an extract found in black pepper. On many supplement labels, you’ll see listed a patented extract obtained from black pepper fruits called BioPerine, which is commonly used as a curcumin bioavailability enhancer.
Another strategy to increase the bioavailability of curcumin is via the use of phytosomes, which are plant extracts that are bound to phosphatidylcholine. Once attached to phosphatidylcholine, there is much higher absorption of curcumin (up to 30 times more bioavailability).
Finally, we get to the biggest problem with curcumin: if you’re relying on it as your only source to obtain the benefits of turmeric, then you’re missing out on other components of this impressive root.
Beyond Curcumin
I don’t quite understand why we seem to myopically focus on curcumin in the health, nutrition and supplement industry.
After all, the entire turmeric rhizome has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for over 4,000 years, and during most of this time there was no fancy technology such as a patented Bioperine extract or phosphatidylcholine molecules in supplement form to increase bioavailability of the curcumin, nor was there technology to extract appreciable amounts of curcumin from the turmeric.
Instead, turmeric’s long history of culinary, medicinal and cosmetic use in India includes water-based preparations for internal use (known as Kashaya), fat-based (oil, ghee) preparations for internal use (known as Sneha), and powder preparation for internal use (known as Churna). Consider this anecdote from the book “Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects”:
“The use of turmeric dates back nearly 4000 years to the Vedic culture in India, where it was used as a culinary spice and had some religious significance. It probably reached China by 700 ad, East Africa by 800 ad, West Africa by 1200 ad, and Jamaica in the eighteenth century. In 1280, Marco Polo described this spice, marveling at a vegetable that exhibited qualities so similar to that of saffron. According to Sanskrit medical treatises and Ayurvedic and Unani systems, turmeric has a long history of medicinal use in South Asia. Susruta’s Ayurvedic Compendium, dating back to 250 bc, recommends an ointment containing turmeric to relieve the effects of poisoned food.”
You can read more about turmeric’s journey from traditional to modern medicine in “Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects”.[ii]
If these ancient healers have been harnessing the power of turmeric via fresh juice, teas, tinctures and powders, as well as using it topically in the form of creams, lotions, pastes and ointments, then why has most of the research up until very recently been centered around the curcuminoids — which, as mentioned, are a fraction of 2% to 8% of the plant?
These traditional healing and food practices related to the use of turmeric indicate that it’s not just the curcuminoid component of turmeric that is likely to possess physiological benefits. Enter turmerosaccharides.
Turmerosaccharides are water-soluble bioactive polysaccharides extracted from that remaining 90+% percent of the turmeric root. The fact that turmerosaccharides are water-soluble means that all of the good stuff is more easily absorbed into the tissues of your body and metabolized more quickly than the curcumin-based fat-soluble components of turmeric.
How Turmerosaccharides Work
The first property of turmerosaccharides that makes them more desirable is the fact that they are naturally water-soluble. Through a steam extraction process, turmerosaccharides are isolated from the turmeric oil, without the need for using any harsh solvents. This means the bioavailability of turmerosaccharides is significantly higher than that of curcumin.
In addition, the effects of tumerosaccharides on your body are astounding, especially if you’re active or suffer from soreness from overexertion. A 2013 study found that turmerosaccharides reduced joint tenderness, crepitation, swelling and effusion related to overuse, while increasing joint function and flexibility.[iii] Patients with primary knee osteoarthritis received either turmerosaccharides, glucosamine sulfate, a combination of turmerosaccharides and glucosamine sulfate, or a placebo for 42 days. The efficacy of the different treatments was assessed during the treatment period, on both day 21 and day 42 of the study.
The analysis of post-treatment scores following the administration of turmerosaccharides at each clinical visit showed a significant decrease in joint issues compared to the placebo. The turmerosaccharides-treated group also showed a significant decrease in the use of their standard medication, along with clinical and subjective improvement compared to placebo.
Another study investigated turmerosaccharides’ effect on human knee cartilage and found that it protects cartilage homeostasis,[iv] which means that it balances out the natural rate of synthesis and degradation, keeping joints happily balanced. Interleukin 1 beta (a natural protein involved with inflammation) and hydrogen peroxide (which is generally toxic to cells) are both bad news bears for chondrocytes, which are your cartilage-producing cells.
This study looked at the effects of turmerosaccharides by exposing these chondrocytes to these toxins with and without turmerosaccharides, then measuring markers indicating cell degradation, aging and death, as well as cartilage creation, degradation and general inflammation.
The presence of turmerosaccharides decreased cartilage cell destruction and general inflammation in the knee cartilage cells, and also protected compounds that improve cartilage creation, such as glycosaminoglycans and type II collagen.
In other studies, turmerosaccharides were shown to significantly reduce acute and chronic inflammation and support a balanced inflammatory response[v] as well as increase gene expression of type II collagen.[vi]
Where Can You Find Turmerosaccharides?
So by now, you’re probably wondering where you can actually get turmerosaccharides. One easy option would be to find high-quality turmeric root grown in clean soil, and then boil it in water, preferably via a decoction method, which involves a long simmering process in hot water, and can work quite well for a variety of hard, woody herbs and spices, such as roots, bark and stems.
Another option is to look for nutritional supplements that contain Turmacin® — which is a water-soluble extract of turmeric that contains high amounts of turmerosaccharides. And there’s absolutely no reason that you can’t co-consume turmerosaccharides along with curcumin to get even more benefits out of the wonderful turmeric root.
For more on turmeric, curcumin and other ancestral and modern scientific ways to enhance recovery and decrease inflammation, you can read Chapter 14 of my new book “Boundless”, which tackles more on healing the body more quickly from injuries, inflammation and hard workouts.
About the Author
Ben Greenfield is a human performance consultant, speaker and New York Times bestselling author of 13 books, including the wildly popular titles “Beyond Training” and “Boundless“.
References
[i] Biofactors. 2013 Jan-Feb;39(1):78-87. doi: 10.1002/biof.1074. Epub 2013 Jan 22.
[ii] Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Chapter 13, Turmeric, the Golden Spice
[iii] Inflammopharmacology. 2013 Apr;21(2):129-36. doi: 10.1007/s10787-012-0163-3. Epub 2012 Dec 16.
[iv] Inflammopharmacology. 2018 Oct;26(5):1233-1243. doi: 10.1007/s10787-017-0433-1. Epub 2018 Jan 8.
[v] Antiinflamm Antiallergy Agents Med Chem. 2015;14(1):53-62.
[vi] Inflammopharmacology. 2018 Oct;26(5):1233-1243. doi: 10.1007/s10787-017-0433-1. Epub 2018 Jan 8.
© [01/28/20] GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here //www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.


wakingtimes--2020-03-30--Mechanized Olive Farming Killing Millions of Songbirds Every Year

The practice of mechanized olive harvesting kills millions of legally protected birds each year in Spain , Portugal , Italy , and France .
Among the greatest casualties include robins , greenfinches , wagtails , and warblers , according to research from Portugal ’ s Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests .
These birds like to roost in olive bushes at night , but this is also when olive farmers typically harvest their fruit , as cooler night time temperatures help to preserve the olive ’ s flavor .
“ The machinery is perfectly fine if used during the day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and escape while they are operating .
However , during the night they use very strong lights which confuse the birds and lead to their death as they are ‘ sucked in ’ by the tractor , ” says Vanessa Mata , a lead researcher at the Portugal-based Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources .
Harvesting occurs from October to January and can eliminate as many as 100 birds per trailer .
In the Spanish region of Andalusia alone , an estimated 2.6 million birds are killed each season .
Ninety-six thousand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while France and Italy do not yet have estimates , but do engage in the practice .
“ Numbers of farmland birds in Europe have plummeted by 55 per cent over the last three decades and this is another shocking example of how modern agricultural practices are impacting our bird populations , including some UK species passing through the region.
” – Martin Harper , Director of Conservation at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Many of the birds being sucked up by high-intensity farming equipment are classified as “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Directive .
The Olive Oil Times reports that “ a good part of these birds are sold by the operators to the rural hotel industry for consumption .
This practice is illegal and highly condemned by the Ministry of Health , ” says the Andalusian government .
Officials in Andalusia have spoken against the “ massacre , ” but conservationists warn that if no legislation is passed , the practice will continue unabated .
According to Harper , there are 421 fewer bird species in Europe than there were 30 years ago .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be stopped with the right policies .
Phillip Schneider is a student as well as a staff writer and assistant editor for Waking Times .
If you would like to see more of his work , you can visit his website , or follow him on the free speech social network Minds .
This article ( Mechanized Olive Farming Killing Millions of Songbirds Every Year ) as originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Phillip Schneider and WakingTimes.com .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , author bio , and this copyright statement .

Mechanized Olive Farming Killing Millions of Songbirds Every Year
Phillip Schneider, Staff Writer
Waking Times
The practice of mechanized olive harvesting kills millions of legally protected birds each year in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France. Among the greatest casualties include robins, greenfinches, wagtails, and warblers, according to research from Portugal’s Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests.
These birds like to roost in olive bushes at night, but this is also when olive farmers typically harvest their fruit, as cooler night time temperatures help to preserve the olive’s flavor.
“The machinery is perfectly fine if used during the day, as birds are able to see and escape while they are operating. However, during the night they use very strong lights which confuse the birds and lead to their death as they are ‘sucked in’ by the tractor,” says Vanessa Mata, a lead researcher at the Portugal-based Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources.
Harvesting occurs from October to January and can eliminate as many as 100 birds per trailer. In the Spanish region of Andalusia alone, an estimated 2.6 million birds are killed each season. Ninety-six thousand are taken by nocturnal harvesting in Portugal, while France and Italy do not yet have estimates, but do engage in the practice.
“Numbers of farmland birds in Europe have plummeted by 55 per cent over the last three decades and this is another shocking example of how modern agricultural practices are impacting our bird populations, including some UK species passing through the region.” – Martin Harper, Director of Conservation at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Many of the birds being sucked up by high-intensity farming equipment are classified as “resting species” by the European Bird Directive.
The Olive Oil Times reports that “a good part of these birds are sold by the operators to the rural hotel industry for consumption. This practice is illegal and highly condemned by the Ministry of Health,” says the Andalusian government.
Officials in Andalusia have spoken against the “massacre,” but conservationists warn that if no legislation is passed, the practice will continue unabated.
“Local governments and local, national and international communities urgently need to assess the impact of the practice and take steps to end it.” – Vanssa Mata
According to Harper, there are 421 fewer bird species in Europe than there were 30 years ago. However, he believes that the decline could be stopped with the right policies.
“We do know that sustainably managed olive grows are not only possible but very beneficial to wildlife and we need to encourage those.” – Martin Harper
About the Author
Phillip Schneider is a student as well as a staff writer and assistant editor for Waking Times. If you would like to see more of his work, you can visit his website, or follow him on the free speech social network Minds.
This article (Mechanized Olive Farming Killing Millions of Songbirds Every Year) as originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Phillip Schneider and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.


wakingtimes--2020-03-30--Are We Programming Our Own Self-Fulfilling Prophecies?

It is time to acknowledge that the bubble of perception that forms one ’ s reality is not a solid structure .
It is fluid and continuously shifting , readapting , and , from time to time , it wobbles .
The information and inputs we receive , and process , affects our sense of reality .
Recently , this consensus reality bubble that most people have attached their senses to , has been fluctuating oddly .
Notions of what is true and what is false have lost their footing .
The things we believed in ; those things , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust in ; those things we relied upon ; the sense of a solid future — all this has become fluid .
And for a number of years now this has been going on — and it has begun to affect us .
First , it was subtle , and entered the subconscious through the field of the collective consciousness .
If you weren ’ t aware of it , it gnawed away in the back of your minds .
And then we projected it into our media — our books , films @ @ @ @ @ @ @ origin of the dystopian memes which have become a major part of our popular culture in recent years .
Most of us were not aware of it — yet we were programming ourselves through our memes .
The current disturbances in our collective reality bubble — what I refer to as the consensus reality meltdown — is creating psychological , physical , and emotional impacts that are affecting our collective well-being .
The mainstream media participates in and promotes the mutating of the consensus reality narrative through sensationalizing specific , targeted events .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ inflames the collective imagination .
In this way , the human mind is constantly forced to recall and replay our collective projected fears .
Rather than averting disaster we now indulge in thoughts of survival or disaster preparation .
We ’ ve come to accept that something ’ s coming and it ’ s going to hurt — whatever it is .
In this way , we are dealing with many ‘ thought-viruses ’ alongside the biological ones .
At times such as this , we should be mindful of what we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social media messages , our everyday communications , and our emotional and mental states .
Everything we put out becomes as vibrational food for ourselves and others .
And as they say — you are what you eat .
Many people are not yet fully grounded with themselves , and this lack of grounding may leave a person more vulnerable to the external manipulations of conditioned opinions and constructed narratives .
We should learn from the trees .
In their external world , they are flexible enough to allow the wind to blow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And below the ground , in their interior world , they are held fast and strengthened by their roots .
A great wind is blowing through the world right now , and is rapidly transforming our lives , and how we view our lives .
We may be faced with a period of much internal and external upheaval .
In many ways , we have arrived at a moment of re-set .
There are many uncertainties that are now feeding a rise in dissonance , discomfort , and detachment .
Again , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program ourselves through our projected memes .
It is psychologically known that when an inner psychic or unconscious desire is not consciously realized or processed , then it will seek to be manifested in the external world .
The inner urge ( or shadow ) will seek for its expression through other means — whether cathartic or destructive .
As Carl Jung noted , ‘ The unconscious works sometimes with most amazing cunning , arranging certain fatal situations , fatal experiences , which make people wake up.
’ [ i ] Jung was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trigger us into more conscious awareness ; to ‘ wake us up ’ to our developmental potential .
In other words , that which wounds us can also be a source of healing .
We can only hope this may be the case .
This may explain the recent wave of dystopian cultural artifacts that have arrived on our shores .
In terms of non-fiction books in the English-language world , there have been many dating from 2003 onwards that have dealt specifically with long-term ‘ catastrophism ’ as it is called .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to , the following : Our Final Century ( Rees , 2003 ) , Collapse ( Diamond , 2005 ) , Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities ( Hallam , 2005 ) , The Party ’ s Over ( Heinberg , 2005 ) , The Next World War ( Woodbridge , 2005 ) , The Upside of Down ( Homer-Dixon , 2006 ) , The Long Emergency ( Kunstler , 2006 ) , The Revenge of Gaia ( Lovelock , 2006 ) , When the Rivers Run Dry ( Pearce , 2006 ) , The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Raja , 2007 ) , The Shock Doctrine ( Klein , 2007 ) , Field Notes from a Catastrophe ( Kolbert , 2007 ) , With Speed and Violence ( Pearce , 2007 ) , The Next Catastrophe ( Perrow , 2007 ) , An Uncertain Future ( Abbott , 2008 ) , Reinventing Collapse ( Orlov , 2008 ) , World at Risk ( Beck , 2009 ) , Time ’ s Up !
( Farnish , 2009 ) , Down to the Wire ( Orr , 2009 ) , Requiem for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Tropic of Chaos ( Parenti , 2011 ) , Living in the End Times ( Zizek , 2011 ) , Convergence of Catastrophes ( Faye , 2012 ) , The Great Disruption ( Gilding , 2012 ) , Crisis Without End ?
( Gamble , 2014 ) , After Fukushima : The Equivalence of Catastrophes ( Nancy , 2014 ) , The Collapse of Western Civilization ( Oreskes , Conway , 2014 ) , The Resilience Dividend ( Rodin , 2014 ) , The Sixth Extinction ( Kolbert , 2015 ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barbarism ( Stengers , 2015 ) , Crime and the Imaginary of Disaster : Post-Apocalyptic Fictions and the Crisis of Social Order ( Yar , 2015 ) , and many more .
Also , the following have all been popular books and/or films in recent years : Oryx and Crake ( 2003 ) , The Road ( book , 2006 ; film , 2009 ) , Children of Men ( book , 1992 ; film 2006 ) , The Age of Stupid ( 2009 ) , The Year of the Flood ( 2009 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2010 ) , The Hunger Games ( book , 2008 ; film 2012 ) , MaddAddam ( 2013 ) , Snowpiercer ( 2013 ) , The Giver ( book , 1993 ; film , 2014 ) , Automata ( 2014 ) , The Maze Runner ( book , 2009 ; film , 2014 ) , Divergent ( book , 2011 ; film , 2014 ) , Mad Max — Fury Road ( 2015 ) , Ready Player One ( 2018 ) , The Testaments ( 2019 ) .
Recent years have seen a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with post-apocalyptic survival , post-oil and post-water scenarios , ramshackle communities , individualist survival , and the list goes on .
These memes and ideas present our collective mind with the thesis that continuous improvement and progress is not an automatic given .
In fact , societies can very easily collapse and fall into ruin .
They show us that a regression in human nature is likely after such an event , with people likely to turn cannibalistic ( The Road ) , totalitarian ( The Hunger Games ) , or tribal and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of these catastrophist books and films share a common thread in that social order breaks down in the absence of social control and consensus values — that is , ‘ collective conditioning.
’ Further , that stronger , authoritarian regimes are needed to maintain a post-collapse form of strict order .
New forms of order and control are essential to manage limited resources , material goods , and human survival .
Suppression and repression are the ever-present themes within dystopian narratives .
The potential for this dystopia meme to be realized is already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come about through a cascade of interlinked processes that include systems of energy , environment , economy , population , food and water , immigration/migration , and geopolitics .
What is also being planted in the now fluid consensus reality is the inevitability of some form of impending disaster and a fatalism concerning the future .
Another consequence of the dystopian , or catastrophic , meme is that powerful technologies — usually related to governance and security — may be the only solution for our continued survival .
We only have to look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unfolding rapidly .
It is interesting to note that the award-winning cyber-punk novelist William Gibson once commented that he omitted certain dystopian ideas from his novels as he did not wish to be held responsible for helping to bring them about !
Our dystopian fantasies may be more than mere performance entertainment — they are likely to also be part of the projections ( the collective shadow ) of the consensus reality mindset once it begins to go into erratic fluidity , or meltdown .
As the philosopher Franco Berardi recently remarked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dystopian memes may in some way be manifested through our collective dreaming as the ‘ frightening scenarios of the imminent time to come.
’ The real pandemic is in the mind .
The Scottish psychiatrist R.D .
Laing pointed out that our species has a strong in-built capacity for self-deception , and that we have literally ‘ tricked ourselves out of our own minds.
’ Modern western civilization , though outwardly highly developed and technologically advanced , is inwardly still immature , and psychologically under-developed .
We have not fully learned how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to put it another way , to decondition ourselves against disingenuous programming — those opinions , ideas , and perspectives — that are fostered upon us from external sources .
Today , in an age of global communications and social media , a collective mental programming can easily become a pandemic .
Our institutions — such as politics , economy , and military , etc .
— are carriers in the same way as the media is through TV , books , films , and artwork .
Most of us don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be carefully managed as a ‘ new normal.
’ As R.D .
Laing famously said , insanity is a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world .
The madness of our world has become so pervasive that it has become normalized .
We have become conditioned to the illogical and inhumane way our world works and programmed to accept a mutated reality .
The current disturbances we now see in the world are what Jung referred to as symptoms of the ‘ totalitarian psychosis.
’ They are also timely reminders of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in formation of worldly events .
Never before in human history have we had the possibility to manifest the human psyche on a global scale .
It is therefore critical that we bring this psychic energy under balance and control .
Jung hit the nail squarely on the head when he stressed that we become enlightened by making the darkness conscious .
In other words , he was saying that the very thing that is a destructive force can also be a liberating one .
The very thing that puts us to sleep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wake up we must .
Kingsley L. Dennis is the author of Bardo Times : hyperreality , high-velocity , simulation , automation , mutation – a hoax ?
, The Phoenix Generation : A New Era of Connection , Compassion , and Consciousness , and The Sacred Revival : Magic , Mind & Meaning in a Technological Age , available at Amazon .
Visit him on the web at http : //www.kingsleydennis.com/ .
Like Waking Times on Facebook .
Follow Waking Times on Twitter .

Are We Programming Our Own Self-Fulfilling Prophecies?
Kingsley L. Dennis, Contributor
Waking Times
It is time to acknowledge that the bubble of perception that forms one’s reality is not a solid structure. It is fluid and continuously shifting, readapting, and, from time to time, it wobbles. The information and inputs we receive, and process, affects our sense of reality. Recently, this consensus reality bubble that most people have attached their senses to, has been fluctuating oddly. Notions of what is true and what is false have lost their footing. The things we believed in; those things, people, or institutions we placed our trust in; those things we relied upon; the sense of a solid future — all this has become fluid. And for a number of years now this has been going on — and it has begun to affect us. First, it was subtle, and entered the subconscious through the field of the collective consciousness. If you weren’t aware of it, it gnawed away in the back of your minds. And then we projected it into our media — our books, films, and art. This is the origin of the dystopian memes which have become a major part of our popular culture in recent years. Most of us were not aware of it — yet we were programming ourselves through our memes.
The current disturbances in our collective reality bubble — what I refer to as the consensus reality meltdown — is creating psychological, physical, and emotional impacts that are affecting our collective well-being. The mainstream media participates in and promotes the mutating of the consensus reality narrative through sensationalizing specific, targeted events. They seize upon a particular topic that inflames the collective imagination. In this way, the human mind is constantly forced to recall and replay our collective projected fears. Rather than averting disaster we now indulge in thoughts of survival or disaster preparation. We’ve come to accept that something’s coming and it’s going to hurt — whatever it is. In this way, we are dealing with many ‘thought-viruses’ alongside the biological ones. At times such as this, we should be mindful of what we are projecting to others — whether through our social media messages, our everyday communications, and our emotional and mental states. Everything we put out becomes as vibrational food for ourselves and others. And as they say — you are what you eat.
Many people are not yet fully grounded with themselves, and this lack of grounding may leave a person more vulnerable to the external manipulations of conditioned opinions and constructed narratives. We should learn from the trees. In their external world, they are flexible enough to allow the wind to blow through them without too much resistance. And below the ground, in their interior world, they are held fast and strengthened by their roots. A great wind is blowing through the world right now, and is rapidly transforming our lives, and how we view our lives. We may be faced with a period of much internal and external upheaval. In many ways, we have arrived at a moment of re-set.
There are many uncertainties that are now feeding a rise in dissonance, discomfort, and detachment. Again, it is important that we do not unknowingly program ourselves through our projected memes.
Dystopian Memes
It is psychologically known that when an inner psychic or unconscious desire is not consciously realized or processed, then it will seek to be manifested in the external world. The inner urge (or shadow) will seek for its expression through other means — whether cathartic or destructive. As Carl Jung noted, ‘The unconscious works sometimes with most amazing cunning, arranging certain fatal situations, fatal experiences, which make people wake up.’[i] Jung was optimistic that such situations can work to trigger us into more conscious awareness; to ‘wake us up’ to our developmental potential. In other words, that which wounds us can also be a source of healing. We can only hope this may be the case. This may explain the recent wave of dystopian cultural artifacts that have arrived on our shores.
In terms of non-fiction books in the English-language world, there have been many dating from 2003 onwards that have dealt specifically with long-term ‘catastrophism’ as it is called. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Our Final Century (Rees, 2003), Collapse (Diamond, 2005), Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities (Hallam, 2005), The Party’s Over (Heinberg, 2005), The Next World War (Woodbridge, 2005), The Upside of Down (Homer-Dixon, 2006), The Long Emergency (Kunstler, 2006), The Revenge of Gaia (Lovelock, 2006), When the Rivers Run Dry (Pearce, 2006), The Suicidal Planet (Hillman, Fawcett, Raja, 2007), The Shock Doctrine (Klein, 2007), Field Notes from a Catastrophe (Kolbert, 2007), With Speed and Violence (Pearce, 2007), The Next Catastrophe (Perrow, 2007), An Uncertain Future (Abbott, 2008), Reinventing Collapse (Orlov, 2008), World at Risk (Beck, 2009), Time’s Up! (Farnish, 2009), Down to the Wire (Orr, 2009), Requiem for a Species (Hamilton, 2010), Tropic of Chaos (Parenti, 2011), Living in the End Times (Zizek, 2011), Convergence of Catastrophes (Faye, 2012), The Great Disruption (Gilding, 2012), Crisis Without End? (Gamble, 2014), After Fukushima: The Equivalence of Catastrophes (Nancy, 2014), The Collapse of Western Civilization (Oreskes, Conway, 2014), The Resilience Dividend (Rodin, 2014), The Sixth Extinction (Kolbert, 2015), In Catastrophic Times: Resisting the Coming Barbarism (Stengers, 2015), Crime and the Imaginary of Disaster: Post-Apocalyptic Fictions and the Crisis of Social Order (Yar, 2015), and many more.
Also, the following have all been popular books and/or films in recent years: Oryx and Crake (2003), The Road (book, 2006; film, 2009), Children of Men (book, 1992; film 2006), The Age of Stupid (2009), The Year of the Flood (2009), The Book of Eli (2010), The Hunger Games (book, 2008; film 2012), MaddAddam (2013), Snowpiercer (2013), The Giver (book, 1993; film, 2014), Automata (2014), The Maze Runner (book, 2009; film, 2014), Divergent (book, 2011; film, 2014), Mad Max — Fury Road (2015), Ready Player One (2018), The Testaments (2019).
Recent years have seen a wave of both A and B-movies dealing with post-apocalyptic survival, post-oil and post-water scenarios, ramshackle communities, individualist survival, and the list goes on.
These memes and ideas present our collective mind with the thesis that continuous improvement and progress is not an automatic given. In fact, societies can very easily collapse and fall into ruin. They show us that a regression in human nature is likely after such an event, with people likely to turn cannibalistic (The Road), totalitarian (The Hunger Games), or tribal and barbaric (Mad Max). Many of these catastrophist books and films share a common thread in that social order breaks down in the absence of social control and consensus values — that is, ‘collective conditioning.’ Further, that stronger, authoritarian regimes are needed to maintain a post-collapse form of strict order. New forms of order and control are essential to manage limited resources, material goods, and human survival. Suppression and repression are the ever-present themes within dystopian narratives.
The potential for this dystopia meme to be realized is already within our current civilization. It may come about through a cascade of interlinked processes that include systems of energy, environment, economy, population, food and water, immigration/migration, and geopolitics. What is also being planted in the now fluid consensus reality is the inevitability of some form of impending disaster and a fatalism concerning the future. Another consequence of the dystopian, or catastrophic, meme is that powerful technologies — usually related to governance and security — may be the only solution for our continued survival. We only have to look at China to see how this theme is unfolding rapidly.
It is interesting to note that the award-winning cyber-punk novelist William Gibson once commented that he omitted certain dystopian ideas from his novels as he did not wish to be held responsible for helping to bring them about! Our dystopian fantasies may be more than mere performance entertainment — they are likely to also be part of the projections (the collective shadow) of the consensus reality mindset once it begins to go into erratic fluidity, or meltdown. As the philosopher Franco Berardi recently remarked,
‘Art, poetry, narration, music, and cinema trace a landscape of imminent darkness: social de-evolution, physical decay, and neuro-totalitariansim…The art-scape of the new century seems crowded with dystopian imaginings, depressing descriptions of the present, and frightening scenarios of the imminent time to come.’[ii]
The danger here is that our dystopian memes may in some way be manifested through our collective dreaming as the ‘frightening scenarios of the imminent time to come.’ The real pandemic is in the mind.
A Pandemic of the Mind
The Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing pointed out that our species has a strong in-built capacity for self-deception, and that we have literally ‘tricked ourselves out of our own minds.’ Modern western civilization, though outwardly highly developed and technologically advanced, is inwardly still immature, and psychologically under-developed. We have not fully learned how to take back our own minds. Or, to put it another way, to decondition ourselves against disingenuous programming — those opinions, ideas, and perspectives — that are fostered upon us from external sources.
Today, in an age of global communications and social media, a collective mental programming can easily become a pandemic. Our institutions — such as politics, economy, and military, etc. — are carriers in the same way as the media is through TV, books, films, and artwork. Most of us don’t realize the potential for collective instability to be carefully managed as a ‘new normal.’ As R.D. Laing famously said, insanity is a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. The madness of our world has become so pervasive that it has become normalized. We have become conditioned to the illogical and inhumane way our world works and programmed to accept a mutated reality.
The current disturbances we now see in the world are what Jung referred to as symptoms of the ‘totalitarian psychosis.’ They are also timely reminders of the critical role that our mental states play in formation of worldly events. Never before in human history have we had the possibility to manifest the human psyche on a global scale. It is therefore critical that we bring this psychic energy under balance and control. Jung hit the nail squarely on the head when he stressed that we become enlightened by making the darkness conscious. In other words, he was saying that the very thing that is a destructive force can also be a liberating one. The very thing that puts us to sleep can also wake us up.
And wake up we must.
About the Author
Kingsley L. Dennis is the author of Bardo Times: hyperreality, high-velocity, simulation, automation, mutation – a hoax?, The Phoenix Generation: A New Era of Connection, Compassion, and Consciousness, and The Sacred Revival: Magic, Mind & Meaning in a Technological Age, available at Amazon. Visit him on the web at http://www.kingsleydennis.com/.


wakingtimes--2020-03-30--How To Actually Effectively Cope With Your Covid-19 Anxiety

As 2020 gets crazier and crazier , emotional self-care is getting more and more important .
A lot of people , especially the “ plugged-in ” types who like to pay close attention to what ’ s going on in the world , are getting into some looping stress patterns over the Covid-19 pandemic that are unnecessary , unhealthy , and unhelpful .
It ’ s an understandable web to get tangled in ; there are all these alarming news stories and statistics pouring in every single day , many of which speak of dangers which may pose a direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ourselves and our loved ones .
Some people spend hours online combing through all the latest information they can find about this thing , and as they ’ re doing this a tremendous amount of stress builds up in the background of their experience , ultimately culminating in depression , panic attacks , angry outbursts , substance abuse or other unpleasantness .
You see strategies for coping with this increasingly common problem everywhere online , from common healthy stress management techniques like deep breathing and meditation , to escapist claims that the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to many people simply unplugging from their news feeds altogether .
What people aren ’ t talking about nearly enough , in my opinion , is the simple yet highly effective practice of consciously feeling your feelings .
You wouldn ’ t think “ feel your feelings ” is something that needs to be said ; it sounds not just like common sense , but like something that happens automatically without your intention or permission .
We ’ ve all experienced emotions we ’ d prefer not to experience if given the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unbidden like a force of nature .
While that can certainly be true , a tremendous range of our emotional spectrum is often blotted out by a basic lack of emotional attentiveness .
Our culture tends to encourage us to put all but our loudest emotions on the back burner and focus on other matters , and Covid-19 happens to feed into that dynamic especially well by giving us a bunch of sparkly news headlines and statistics to focus on while this low-level background anxiety slowly builds unnoticed .
Feelings need to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , but felt .
They ’ re like small children ; if you just give them a cuddle , let them cry and listen to their grievances they feel better in a few minutes , but if you deprive them of attention they ’ ll start acting out to get it .
At some point between childhood and adulthood , most of us consciously created strategies to stop our feelings from coming up unbidden .
At some point , crying in front of your peers became embarrassing and you learned how to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us never thought to take down those defences after they were installed .
Some of us have never even re-learned how to cry again .
Letting your feelings flow again will take a conscious effort from most of us .
No matter how much mantra repetition , deep breathing or positive affirmations you do , unless you ’ ve felt those feelings all the way through you ’ re just wallpapering over the actual issue .
A huge percentage of the anxiety that people are currently experiencing is just a big backlog of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For some of you , just reminding you of that will be enough .
Put down the phone and quietly meditate on it until it bubbles up .
Hold your feelings like they ’ re a little baby newborn .
Let them happen until they ’ re all the way done .
Others might need to try out some different strategies .
Here are some of mine .
First , I always check in with my body .
Am I clenching anything ?
Hands , bum , tummy , forehead , jaw ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ background nausea , or a lump in my throat , or is my heart thumping too hard ?
I investigate .
Close your eyes now and try it with me .
Scan around for a few minutes .
Try tapping around with the tips of your fingers on one hand of the areas that you identified are tight .
You ’ ll find spots that are a little bit sore .
They feel like a light bruise .
Tap on those spots for a little longer until they release .
Once you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tap round your body and find other tight spots .
Do this for at least a few minutes .
As you ’ re doing this , the loud buzz of anxiety releases and the actual root feelings become more clear .
Sometimes all you have to do is feel them .
You will probably feel embarrassed to feel them .
That ’ s just one of the layers of defence you put in all those years ago .
If it feels stuck , use your theater improv skills to exaggerate and try some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feeling .
Feel them all the way through .
Sometimes they feel their way to the other side , oftentimes they end abruptly with a burp , the shakes , a yawn or some other release .
If that doesn ’ t work , I usually hop up and do a very easy qi gong sequence a dear friend of mine taught me years ago .
I think any kind of repetitive energy movement would do though .
Basically I do the same movement over and over again with my eyes closed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ body I can sense areas of blockage .
I just keep looking at them until I ’ ve fully seen all the parts of it and then it releases , usually by a big expression of feeling like a roar or something , that usually ends in dry retching .
I know I ’ m done when I ’ m at zero again .
I don ’ t stop until I feel totally at peace .
I think that ’ s important to note because some people really get off on having big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over everyone else .
Sometimes people want other people to “ own ” their feelings .
Rather than feeling them , they try to make other people feel them by proxy .
They ’ re usually referred to as drama queens .
The point is to release the feelings so your natural peaceful zero point can shine through again .
You are the sky , the feelings are weather .
Identifying as the weather will mean you are invested in keeping the weather going .
Identifying as the feeling will mean you will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Set the intention to let it speak to you , and then let it pass .
That ’ s where health is .
A lot of people are saying that the fear of the coronavirus is more damaging than the virus itself .
I think that ’ s true , but not in the way they mean it .
They ’ re often trying to say that the coronavirus itself a nothingburger and the fear is being used to manipulate us .
I think the virus is a real thing , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ourselves and others to manipulate us .
We need to clear a path to inspiration by feeling through our feelings and getting back to zero as often as possible .
This will help us in the big picture by seeing what ’ s happening and responding with grace , and in the micro by keeping our immune systems in full relaxed readiness and not tangled up , tripping over itself , fighting ghosts and in panic-mode .
Do the internal work and the external work will follow .
This is how we save @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list for her website , which will get you an email notification for everything .
Her articles are entirely reader-supported , so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around , liking her on Facebook , following her antics on Twitter , checking out her podcast , throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal , or buying her book Woke : A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers .

How To Actually Effectively Cope With Your Covid-19 Anxiety
Caitlin Johnstone, Guest
Waking Times
As 2020 gets crazier and crazier, emotional self-care is getting more and more important. A lot of people, especially the “plugged-in” types who like to pay close attention to what’s going on in the world, are getting into some looping stress patterns over the Covid-19 pandemic that are unnecessary, unhealthy, and unhelpful.
It’s an understandable web to get tangled in; there are all these alarming news stories and statistics pouring in every single day, many of which speak of dangers which may pose a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of ourselves and our loved ones. Some people spend hours online combing through all the latest information they can find about this thing, and as they’re doing this a tremendous amount of stress builds up in the background of their experience, ultimately culminating in depression, panic attacks, angry outbursts, substance abuse or other unpleasantness.
You see strategies for coping with this increasingly common problem everywhere online, from common healthy stress management techniques like deep breathing and meditation, to escapist claims that the virus doesn’t pose any real danger, to many people simply unplugging from their news feeds altogether. What people aren’t talking about nearly enough, in my opinion, is the simple yet highly effective practice of consciously feeling your feelings.
You wouldn’t think “feel your feelings” is something that needs to be said; it sounds not just like common sense, but like something that happens automatically without your intention or permission. We’ve all experienced emotions we’d prefer not to experience if given the choice, so we assume emotion arises unbidden like a force of nature.
While that can certainly be true, a tremendous range of our emotional spectrum is often blotted out by a basic lack of emotional attentiveness. Our culture tends to encourage us to put all but our loudest emotions on the back burner and focus on other matters, and Covid-19 happens to feed into that dynamic especially well by giving us a bunch of sparkly news headlines and statistics to focus on while this low-level background anxiety slowly builds unnoticed.
Feelings need to be felt. Not acted out on other people, but felt. They’re like small children; if you just give them a cuddle, let them cry and listen to their grievances they feel better in a few minutes, but if you deprive them of attention they’ll start acting out to get it.
At some point between childhood and adulthood, most of us consciously created strategies to stop our feelings from coming up unbidden. At some point, crying in front of your peers became embarrassing and you learned how to stop it from happening. Most of us never thought to take down those defences after they were installed. Some of us have never even re-learned how to cry again. Letting your feelings flow again will take a conscious effort from most of us.
No matter how much mantra repetition, deep breathing or positive affirmations you do, unless you’ve felt those feelings all the way through you’re just wallpapering over the actual issue. A huge percentage of the anxiety that people are currently experiencing is just a big backlog of feelings that need to be felt.
For some of you, just reminding you of that will be enough. Put down the phone and quietly meditate on it until it bubbles up. Hold your feelings like they’re a little baby newborn. Let them happen until they’re all the way done.
Others might need to try out some different strategies. Here are some of mine.
First, I always check in with my body. Am I clenching anything? Hands, bum, tummy, forehead, jaw? What else is happening? Is there background nausea, or a lump in my throat, or is my heart thumping too hard? I investigate. Close your eyes now and try it with me. Scan around for a few minutes.
Try tapping around with the tips of your fingers on one hand of the areas that you identified are tight. You’ll find spots that are a little bit sore. They feel like a light bruise. Tap on those spots for a little longer until they release. Once you’ve done that, let your fingers tap round your body and find other tight spots. Do this for at least a few minutes.
As you’re doing this, the loud buzz of anxiety releases and the actual root feelings become more clear. Sometimes all you have to do is feel them. You will probably feel embarrassed to feel them. That’s just one of the layers of defence you put in all those years ago. If it feels stuck, use your theater improv skills to exaggerate and try some feelings on until you find the source feeling. Feel them all the way through. Sometimes they feel their way to the other side, oftentimes they end abruptly with a burp, the shakes, a yawn or some other release.
If that doesn’t work, I usually hop up and do a very easy qi gong sequence a dear friend of mine taught me years ago. I think any kind of repetitive energy movement would do though. Basically I do the same movement over and over again with my eyes closed. Once the energy is moving around the body I can sense areas of blockage. I just keep looking at them until I’ve fully seen all the parts of it and then it releases, usually by a big expression of feeling like a roar or something, that usually ends in dry retching.
I know I’m done when I’m at zero again. I don’t stop until I feel totally at peace. I think that’s important to note because some people really get off on having big feelings and having their big feelings all over everyone else. Sometimes people want other people to “own” their feelings. Rather than feeling them, they try to make other people feel them by proxy. They’re usually referred to as drama queens.
The point is to release the feelings so your natural peaceful zero point can shine through again. You are the sky, the feelings are weather. Identifying as the weather will mean you are invested in keeping the weather going. Identifying as the feeling will mean you will be invested in keeping the feeling going. Set the intention to let it speak to you, and then let it pass. That’s where health is.
A lot of people are saying that the fear of the coronavirus is more damaging than the virus itself. I think that’s true, but not in the way they mean it. They’re often trying to say that the coronavirus itself a nothingburger and the fear is being used to manipulate us. I think the virus is a real thing, and also our fear will be used by ourselves and others to manipulate us. We need to clear a path to inspiration by feeling through our feelings and getting back to zero as often as possible. This will help us in the big picture by seeing what’s happening and responding with grace, and in the micro by keeping our immune systems in full relaxed readiness and not tangled up, tripping over itself, fighting ghosts and in panic-mode.
Do the internal work and the external work will follow. This is how we save ourselves.
About the Author
Caitlin Johnstone – Rogue journalist. Bogan socialist. Anarcho-psychonaut. Guerrilla poet. Utopia prepper.
The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list for her website, which will get you an email notification for everything. Her articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.


wakingtimes--2020-03-30--The Black Panther Party For Self Defense: The Original Police The Police

Thirty years before the beating of Rodney King and the LA Riots .
Fifty years before the killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson riots .
Two college students collaborated to create an organization to protect the black community from racist police officers .
Together Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense .
Huey Newton met Bobby Seale while they were enrolled at Merritt College in Oakland California .
Prior to meeting Seale , Newton was already politically active [ in the bay area ] as a member of the Afro-American Association ( AAA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heavily inspired by the teachings of civil rights leader Malcolm X .
In the wake of the Watts riots—which engulfed Los Angeles a year earlier—and the assassination of Malcolm X , Seale and Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party in October of 1966 .
Their goal was for the party to serve as an organization responsible for addressing mistreatment of the black community by law enforcement .
Unlike many non-violent civil rights leaders of the time , Newton and Seale drew from their knowledge of Malcolm X ’ s teachings and vowed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ by any means necessary.
” Although their approach to addressing racism was often considered “ radical , ” the Panthers created a movement that continues to inspire activists to this day .
In 1966 , California law allowed citizens to open carry firearms .
The Black Panthers exercised this freedom by organizing armed patrols to follow police and ensure they performed their duties professionally .
The following year , thirty panthers staged an armed protest in front of the California state house declaring , “ The time has come for black people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former California Governor Ronald Reagan who , in response , worked with the NRA to support the 1967 Mulford Act .
The act lead to California having arguably the strongest gun laws in the nation .
As Adam Winkler , the author of Gunfight : The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms , later noted : As part of their stated mission , the Panthers also helped members of their community obtain bail money when they were arrested , and assisted them in obtaining legal counsel to defend them against the charges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the police , the Panthers ’ Ten-point platform also sought better educational opportunities for the black community , the exemption of African Americans from the draft , and equal justice under the court system .
In their communities the panthers organized free breakfast programs for children , offered free medical care , and gave lessons in self defense .
Although the Panthers were regularly vilified by news media—and feared by the establishment—their social programs provided a much needed service in their community and helped contribute to the creation of federal programs which still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the civil rights movement was reaching its ’ peak , the Panthers ’ ideals were noticeably empowering the black community .
The Party quickly grew in popularity and , by 1968 , boasted a membership of at least 10,000 people [ in dozens of cities ] across the U.S .
In March 1971 , anti-war activist group Citizens ’ Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI office in Pennsylvania .
The group discovered a cache of documents detailing how the FBI made the targeting of civil rights groups—and leaders—a central directive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Panthers openly challenged law enforcement , and many of their ideals were rooted in Marxist theory , the party quickly drew the attention of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover .
In response , Hoover labeled the Panthers the ‘ greatest threat to the internal security of the United States ’ .
Under Hoover ’ s leadership the FBI targeted the Panthers ’ with a counter intelligence operation known as COINTELPRO .
While the operation was initially created to target the Communist party , Hoover quickly expanded COINTELPRO to include civil rights activists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In 1969 the L.A.P.D .
launched a SWAT style raid on the Panthers ’ office , marking the beginning of a large scale intimidation campaign against the organization .
Following the raid on their office many members of the party were summarily investigated , incarcerated , or assassinated .
Due to the FBI ’ s infiltration and intimidation tactics , the Black Panther party ’ s remaining leadership became divided , and membership dwindled over the next decade .
By 1980 , the once 10,000 strong organization reportedly had a membership of just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer enjoy the popularity they achieved during the height of the civil rights movement , their example has paved the way for a new generation of cop-watchers and police accountability activists .
Armed with knowledge , smartphones , cameras , and sometimes firearms .
A new generation of activists are taking to the streets to hold police accountable and continuing the legacy created by Bobby Seale & Huey Newton over fifty years ago .
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE !

The Black Panther Party For Self Defense: The Original Police The Police
Johnny Liberty, Guest
Waking Times
Thirty years before the beating of Rodney King and the LA Riots. Fifty years before the killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson riots. Two college students collaborated to create an organization to protect the black community from racist police officers. Together Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
Huey Newton met Bobby Seale while they were enrolled at Merritt College in Oakland California. Prior to meeting Seale, Newton was already politically active [in the bay area] as a member of the Afro-American Association (AAA). Both young men were also heavily inspired by the teachings of civil rights leader Malcolm X.
In the wake of the Watts riots—which engulfed Los Angeles a year earlier—and the assassination of Malcolm X, Seale and Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party in October of 1966. Their goal was for the party to serve as an organization responsible for addressing mistreatment of the black community by law enforcement.
Unlike many non-violent civil rights leaders of the time, Newton and Seale drew from their knowledge of Malcolm X’s teachings and vowed to take a stand against racist police officers “by any means necessary.” Although their approach to addressing racism was often considered “radical,” the Panthers created a movement that continues to inspire activists to this day.
Policing the Police:
In 1966, California law allowed citizens to open carry firearms. The Black Panthers exercised this freedom by organizing armed patrols to follow police and ensure they performed their duties professionally. The following year, thirty panthers staged an armed protest in front of the California state house declaring, “The time has come for black people to arm themselves.”
The protest frightened former California Governor Ronald Reagan who, in response, worked with the NRA to support the 1967 Mulford Act. The act lead to California having arguably the strongest gun laws in the nation. As Adam Winkler, the author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms , later noted:
“The law was part of a wave of laws that were passed in the late 1960s regulating guns, especially to target African-Americans.”
As part of their stated mission, the Panthers also helped members of their community obtain bail money when they were arrested, and assisted them in obtaining legal counsel to defend them against the charges they faced.
A Community Project:
In addition to policing the police, the Panthers’ Ten-point platform also sought better educational opportunities for the black community, the exemption of African Americans from the draft, and equal justice under the court system. In their communities the panthers organized free breakfast programs for children, offered free medical care, and gave lessons in self defense.
Although the Panthers were regularly vilified by news media—and feared by the establishment—their social programs provided a much needed service in their community and helped contribute to the creation of federal programs which still exist today.
At a time when the civil rights movement was reaching its’ peak, the Panthers’ ideals were noticeably empowering the black community. The Party quickly grew in popularity and, by 1968, boasted a membership of at least 10,000 people [in dozens of cities] across the U.S.
COINTELPRO:
In March 1971, anti-war activist group Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI office in Pennsylvania. The group discovered a cache of documents detailing how the FBI made the targeting of civil rights groups—and leaders—a central directive in their investigative operations.
Because the Panthers openly challenged law enforcement, and many of their ideals were rooted in Marxist theory, the party quickly drew the attention of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. In response, Hoover labeled the Panthers the ‘greatest threat to the internal security of the United States’. Under Hoover’s leadership the FBI targeted the Panthers’ with a counter intelligence operation known as COINTELPRO.
While the operation was initially created to target the Communist party, Hoover quickly expanded COINTELPRO to include civil rights activists, and anyone he labeled “subversive.” In 1969 the L.A.P.D. launched a SWAT style raid on the Panthers’ office, marking the beginning of a large scale intimidation campaign against the organization.
Following the raid on their office many members of the party were summarily investigated, incarcerated, or assassinated. Due to the FBI’s infiltration and intimidation tactics, the Black Panther party’s remaining leadership became divided, and membership dwindled over the next decade. By 1980, the once 10,000 strong organization reportedly had a membership of just 27 people.
A New Generation of Activists:
Although the Panthers no longer enjoy the popularity they achieved during the height of the civil rights movement, their example has paved the way for a new generation of cop-watchers and police accountability activists. Armed with knowledge, smartphones, cameras, and sometimes firearms. A new generation of activists are taking to the streets to hold police accountable and continuing the legacy created by Bobby Seale & Huey Newton over fifty years ago.
http://www.facebook.com/PoliceThePolice3.0/videos/886174821854447/
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!


wakingtimes--2020-03-30--With India on Lockdown, Endangered Sea Turtles on Course to Lay SIXTY MILLION Eggs This Year

While the coronavirus may have sparked one of the biggest crises seen by the planet in modern times , the global pandemic has had some positive effects on the environment .
In India , along the coast of the eastern state Odisha , over 475,000 endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have come ashore to a roughly 3.75-mile ( 6-km . )
Rushikulya beach to dig their nests and lay eggs .
However , restrictions in place due to the CoViD-19 threat has allowed for hundreds of thousands of endangered turtles to be protected from any human presence—especially the presence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ successful mass nesting in years .
According to the forest service , well over 250,000 mother turtles have taken part in the daytime nesting activity within the past week alone , reports Down to Earth .
Typically , the event would attract hordes of tourists eager to see the miraculous event , straining members of the Forest Department who struggled to keep the crowds at bay .
Crows and jackals would also attack the turtles , while local poachers would come afterward to rob turtle eggs and sell them at local village markets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prevented any such disturbance of this year ’ s mass nesting , reports the Hindu , allowing the 25 forest guards and researchers to focus on guarding the turtles .
With another successful mass nesting having taken place at Gahirmatha Beach , which also lies along the Bay of Bengal in Odisha , authorities estimate that roughly 60,000,000 eggs will be laid this year in total .
While thousands of the eggs were destroyed by the mass of mother turtles laying eggs atop nests , such is the norm in the mass nestings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 80 to 100 eggs each .
The eggs should take 45 days to hatch , after which the little hatchlings emerge to make their way out to sea .
It ’ s a stunning reversal of fortune for the Olive Ridleys who had skipped the beach last year , baffling researchers .
The Forest Department claimed that this year saw the highest number of turtles taking part in the event .
They explained :

With India on Lockdown, Endangered Sea Turtles on Course to Lay SIXTY MILLION Eggs This Year
Elias Marat, The Mind Unleashed
Waking Times
While the coronavirus may have sparked one of the biggest crises seen by the planet in modern times, the global pandemic has had some positive effects on the environment.
In India, along the coast of the eastern state Odisha, over 475,000 endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have come ashore to a roughly 3.75-mile (6-km.) Rushikulya beach to dig their nests and lay eggs.
However, restrictions in place due to the CoViD-19 threat has allowed for hundreds of thousands of endangered turtles to be protected from any human presence—especially the presence of tourists—resulting in what may be their most successful mass nesting in years.
According to the forest service, well over 250,000 mother turtles have taken part in the daytime nesting activity within the past week alone, reports Down to Earth.
Typically, the event would attract hordes of tourists eager to see the miraculous event, straining members of the Forest Department who struggled to keep the crowds at bay. Crows and jackals would also attack the turtles, while local poachers would come afterward to rob turtle eggs and sell them at local village markets.
However, the coronavirus lockdown has prevented any such disturbance of this year’s mass nesting, reports the Hindu, allowing the 25 forest guards and researchers to focus on guarding the turtles.
With another successful mass nesting having taken place at Gahirmatha Beach, which also lies along the Bay of Bengal in Odisha, authorities estimate that roughly 60,000,000 eggs will be laid this year in total.
While thousands of the eggs were destroyed by the mass of mother turtles laying eggs atop nests, such is the norm in the mass nestings where each mother lays an average of 80 to 100 eggs each. The eggs should take 45 days to hatch, after which the little hatchlings emerge to make their way out to sea.
ARRIBADA ~Spanish Word – means 'Arrival' 🐢
Refers to mass-nesting event when 1000s of Turtles come ashore at the same time to lay eggs on the same beach.
Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
🏖 Olive Ridley Turtle pic.twitter.com/dvzslqA8zW — Ankit Kumar, IFS (@AnkitKumar_IFS) March 26, 2020
It’s a stunning reversal of fortune for the Olive Ridleys who had skipped the beach last year, baffling researchers.
The Forest Department claimed that this year saw the highest number of turtles taking part in the event. They explained:
“Every alternate year is either a bad year or a good year. However, in the last two years we have seen a phenomenal increase in nesting numbers. This year we have estimated that at least 4.75 lakh [475,000] turtles came on to nest on Rushikulya beach.”
Mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles in Odisha coast while nation is at 21 day lockdown. #Nature #21daylockdown #pandemia pic.twitter.com/z7ihzOYu0E — Harikrishnan S (@_harikrishnan_s) March 26, 2020
By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com


wakingtimes--2020-03-28--Battered Souls #002 – On the Medicine Path with Julian Keenan Grow

Battered Souls # 002 – On the Medicine Path with Julian Keenan Grow My guest in this show is esoteric @ @ @ @ @ Sacred Silence Acupuncture in Brooklyn , NY .
As a young punk rocker in NYC @ @ @ @ @ when at 22 he was diagnosed with a bone tumor .
Having spent time in @ @ @ @ @ Rica working directly with the sacred medicine Ayahuasca under the tutelage of traditional elders , @ @ @ @ @ herbal medicine at his clinic .
In this episode we talk a bit about his @ @ @ @ @ psychedelics , and how that makes him a unique and inspiring healer .
He ’ @ @ @ @ @ talk with and I hope to have him back on someday to talk more about @ @ @ @ @ Visit us on the web – Battered Souls

Battered Souls #002 – On the Medicine Path with Julian Keenan Grow
Battered Souls #002 – On the Medicine Path with Julian Keenan Grow
My guest in this show is esoteric acupuncturist Julian Keenan Grow from Sacred Silence Acupuncture in Brooklyn, NY.
As a young punk rocker in NYC he journey of healing began when at 22 he was diagnosed with a bone tumor.
Having spent time in the Amazon and in Costa Rica working directly with the sacred medicine Ayahuasca under the tutelage of traditional elders, Julian now practices acupuncture and herbal medicine at his clinic.
In this episode we talk a bit about his experience with plant medicines, psychedelics, and how that makes him a unique and inspiring healer.
He’s a fun guy to talk with and I hope to have him back on someday to talk more about his experiences with shamanism.
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Find Julian at:
Sacred Silence Acupuncture
You Tube
Instagram
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Visit us on the web – Battered Souls
Stop by Dylan’s site – http://www.WakingTimes.com
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Support Battered Souls with Cryptos!
BITCOIN – 1PgkuMTxVwVEhgbKuXQQ1Qi8kYzsX2fn68
ETHEREUM – 0xaec9c156C492d964Ad6C8bD1377152b85Be230F6
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