The data is supported by a USDA study (1999 to 2007) that tested 89 different foods for pesticides. Residues are categories among known or probable carcinogens, suspected hormone disruptors, neurotoxins, and developmental/reproductive toxicants.

When one’s attempt to alleviate pain supercedes their desire to understand and potentially empower themselves to take action toward resolution, the natural mechanism of healing is disregarded.

With regards to this notion, I found a video while investigating more about Ivan Illich, a critic of the institutions of contemporary western culture. The video is an emotive work that demonstrates the conundrum encountered when the pursuit of healing is overshadowed by the avoidance of pain.

Video Credit: aMinorityView

Trouble loading the video? A transcript is listed below:

In the Middle Ages doctors were of the understanding that if you killed the pain, you also killed the patient.

“Where there is pain there is life.”

In our time the tendency is that a person with phsychic problems is given medicine that removes the pain so that the person don’t go through the process of suffering.

Philosopher Ivan Illich criticized this system.
Illich drew up two diametrical patterns:

1. From pain, and through suffering, back again to harmony

2. Pain: patient is given painkiller. Resulting in that the conflict that triggered the pain do not get reconciliation, it is merely shoved down into the unconscious where it will continue to torment the patient when the painkiller loses its effect

American scholar and writer Lewis Hyde thinks our culture lacks a total understanding of the purpose of pain

“A true culture sees phenomena like pain, deviation and death in the eyes and interpret them. It gives the terms meaning; it exposes how they are a part of a whole and thereby makes them endurable.

In a true culture we do not get caught in the terms because the culture leads us out of pain and death and back to life.

The medicinal civilization reacts the opposite way: It tries to attack, remove and kill these phenomena.

In this way human beings are separated from their own healing and interpreting power. Human and culture begin to drift apart and wither, as what happens when plants are removed from the soil and both plants and earth turns to dust.”

The patient is removed from their own ability to heal, from their own original and painful interpretation of reality, their own suffering.

A true culture would perceive the suffering as an active process, a creative process.

An unhealthy culture – our culture – separates people from the suffering and thereby their own creative abilities.

Before you play the video below take a moment to recognize what your are currently feeling in your body accompanied by a few deep breathes. Enjoy.

Once again take note of what you currently feel in your body.

Mechanism

Between the hours of 11pm and 3am, it is important to be in the process of sleep in order for the Hun, the most yang essence of the Liver , to coallece and travel beyond the physical plane in search of a vision of the future.

Interpretaion

Interpretation of the dream is not always necessary. In fact, interpretation is what the mind performs in an attempt to “make sense” of the dream content.  The mind is left wondering because when the Hun returns, it imprints its message upon the blood (which is stored in the Liver at this time.) With the message alchemically mixed with the blood, it circulates via the heart and it’s message is carried to every living cell. The mind will attempt to interpret the dream but it is not neccessary. If there is freedom of expression in the BodyMindSpirit, you can trust that you will act accordingly.

The relationship of patient and practitioner is to ensure that the dreams occur appropriately in the correct amount and manner.

When I make poor food choices, they tend to come in a slow and gradual series. One fair choice leads to poor choice and so on. I am enticed by the short term sense of satisfaction. I forget wisdom that declares, “often that which cannot easily be seen is just as important as what is clear and apparent.” In this case I am not talking about calories or food groups.  I am talking about the  long term consequence that will show up later. Each food choice we make has a profound influence on the whole being and they are connected. Maybe it is amatter of momentum.

It is not until I notice my body feeling tight, my thinking unclear and my consciousness operating as if things “were” and forgetting that things “are”, do I realize that it all can change RIGHT NOW. Within moments I am organizing my thoughts and actions in a direction pointed to the next meal and with my perspective looking into the future, I ask myself, “what to I want to accomplish?”

Something inside me shifts. I am now playing with the different cooking tools I have learned, acknowledging the simple observations and phenomena of my state of being and operating in the moment with design.  I am beginning to stack up menus with a clear intention.

And one important aspect of this entry is that it can work the other way too. By this I mean, you don’t have to have a mental epiphany to shift the situation. The mind trip, while the source of great dramatic works of art, can be omitted. You can shift the situation by simply recognizing and acknowledging the phenomena as so, and eating accordingly. No personal insight is required as the motivating force, or better yet, you don’t have to wait for that “a-ha” moment to begin anew. The good food choice will start a “string” that will gradually pull you back to your self and, if maintained, will regulate the extremes. Consider your diet as the foundation that can always remain steady and the impacts are noticeable across the spectrum.

I am fascinated by the Chinese “food as medicine” cultural approach (with a tiny bit of nutritional knowledge) and I use that in combination with an honest self observer as my guide. Be honest and drawn to what works for you and begin to observe. The extremes we feel when we are foundation is not strong is unique to each of us and no one has a better vantage point from which to observe than you.

Organic produce can make a big difference in overall health but only eating organic produce can be a challenge and be costly. The decision about what produce should be organic or conventional is easy if you know which fruits and vegetables carry the most metabolic burden.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit watchdog organization, offers this guide.

Below you will find information on the “pesticide contamination levels” of 47 commonly eaten fruits and vegetables. Use this chart to help you decide ways to keep some conventionally grown produce in your shopping cart and some extra money in your pocket.

Want to learn more about this list and the EWG , visit  www.ewg.org.

The Full List: 47 Fruits & Veggies

Note: EWG ranked a total of 47 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because both domestic and imported samples were evaluated.

Please visit the site often and explore.